Suit Challenges Virginia's Ban On LGBT Discrimination In Public Accommodations

Suit was filed on Tuesday in a Virginia federal district court by a wedding photographer challenging the Virginia Values Act which  prohibits businesses from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. The complaint (full text) in Chris Herring Photography, LLC v. Herring, (ED VA, filed 6/30/2020) alleges in part:

Virginia interprets this law to force Chris to do more than serve LGBT clients (which Chris already does). Virginia instead requires Chris to promote content he disagrees with—to create and convey photographs and blogs celebrating same-sex weddings because he does so for weddings between a man and a woman. The law even makes it illegal for Chris to hold a policy of photographing and blogging about weddings only between a man and woman or to post internet statements explaining his religious reasons for only creating this wedding content.

ADF issued a press release announcing filing of the lawsuit.