Colorado to Pay $1.5 Million to Website Designer Who Refused to Serve LGBTQ Couples

Eight years after a Colorado website designer sued the state to let her limit wedding services to straight couples only, the legal case has finally concluded.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the web designer, Lorie Smith, in June 2023, declaring that the First Amendment allows religious owners of creative businesses to refuse to serve same-sex couples. Now the state has agreed to pay Smith's attorneys' fees incurred during the lengthy legal battle.

The state will pay $1.5 million, according to the fee settlement, which was fully executed on Tuesday, November 19.

"This is a win not just for me, but for all Americans — for those who share my beliefs and for those who hold different views," Smith says. "As the Supreme Court said, I’m free to create art consistent with my beliefs without fear of Colorado punishing me anymore. ... I hope that everyone will celebrate the court’s decision upholding this right for each of us to speak freely.”

This is the latest victory for Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom. In this state, the group is best known for defending Masterpiece Cakeshop and owner Jack Phillips in the Supreme Court in 2018, after the baker refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. More recently, the legal team went after Jefferson County Public Schools last year for its policy regarding transgender student accommodations on overnight trips.

In Smith's case — 303 Creative v. Elenis — the court ruled 6-3 that Colorado could not apply its anti-discrimination law to make Smith provide an expressive service that runs contrary to her religious beliefs.

Smith had not been asked to make a website for any same-sex couple but claimed that the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act barring discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, gender and other characteristics was unconstitutional. The state argued that the case should be dismissed because there was no actual instance of Smith being asked to express something she didn’t believe.

After their victory, Smith and her attorneys originally asked for nearly $1.97 million from the state as reimbursement for over 2,174 hours of legal work related to the case, though they say they actually devoted around 3,375 hours to the cause.

The $1.5 million settlement will now be paid in full, says Hattie Troutman, a spokesperson with Alliance Defending Freedom.

“The government can’t force Americans to say things they don’t believe, and Colorado officials have paid and will continue to pay a high price when they violate this foundational freedom,” says Kristen Waggoner, president and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom. "Billions of people around the world believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and that men and women are biologically distinct. No government has the right to silence individuals for expressing these ideas or to punish those who decline to express different views."

Shortly after the settlement agreement, Coloradans voted to remove the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, re-emphasizing Colorado's status as a sanctuary state for LGBTQ protections.

The Colorado Attorney General's Office declined to comment on the settlement.