Jordan Lorence is a veteran attorney who in 2006 represented a female photographer in one of the cases widely cited in the "religious freedom" law debate last week.
From his office in Washington, he watched the events in Indiana and Arkansas and quickly reached this conclusion: Religious conservatives are the ones being discriminated against for their stance of conscience.
Lorence, the senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious-based legal lobbying group, represented a New Mexico photographer who declined to take photos for a gay wedding.
"Nobody has a religion that says they have to deny service to gay people, the way the other side portrays this issue," he said. "That completely distorts reality and makes this seem like a segregated lunch counter in the South."
He added: "I've had a long time to ponder this and I can't think of a single person who has said 'My religion says I can't sell goods and services to gay people.' Nobody."
His observations offer an up-close look at one side of the issues that provoked a national uproar when lawmakers in Indiana and Arkansas approved legislation that they argue was designed to protect religious freedoms. The laws were widely criticized as measures that would allow for discrimination against gay people who could be denied goods and services in the name of religious belief. Many conservative backers of the law were opposed to same-sex marriage. Arkansas also took up the issue.
Governors in both states signed new legislation on Thursday that offers some protection against discrimination for sexual orientation, aiming to satisfy critics that included high-profile business leaders and gay-rights activists.
Lorence explained why many religious people support such laws. What some are saying, he insisted, is that they cannot be a party to a ceremony in which marriage is defined differently from between one man and one woman -- or serve as an advocate for such a marriage.
He said some professions do more than just sell goods. Some, he said, involve creativity and moral decisions.
People such as website designers, videographers, social media specialists and advertising agencies that devise campaigns -- if asked to advocate political or religious platforms -- have a right under the law to decline.
"They don't have a standard product -- it's a message they have to formulate to put out there, but people want to ignore the fact that asking a [Christian] website designer to create a website that God does not exist could create some crisis of conscience."
He said the law should protect, for instance, a Jewish tattoo artist asked to create a Nazi swastika.
The threshold for denying services in a religious protection case, he said, is whether the task required by the religious person is "expressive." Does the job involve some sort of creativity?
For example, he said a Wal-Mart clerk could not refuse to check out a gay couple. "A Wal-Mart clerk can't say, 'I wont sell food that a gay couple wants to buy.' That's not expressive; they would lose the discrimination case."
On the other hand, he argues, decorating a wedding cake with a message is an expressive act and should fall under religious protection laws.
In 2006, Elane Photography owner Elaine Huguenin received an email request to photograph a "commitment ceremony" between two same-sex partners, asking if Huguenin would be "open to helping us celebrate our day," according to the Alliance Defending Freedom website.
The site says the photographer declined to use her artistic expression to communicate a message at odds with her beliefs. The client, Vanessa Willock, filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission. After a one-day administrative trial in 2008, the commission ruled against the Huguenins and ordered them to pay $6,637.94 in attorneys' fees to Willock. Lorence invoked New Mexico's version of the religious protection law.
Said Lorence: "She is a photographer. Her work isn't like taking photos for the DMV. Ms. Willock said she wanted to hire her because she liked her style, her artistic message.
"Elaine said that in good conscience 'I can't do that.' She had a conviction not to take the job. She doesn't take pictures like a gumball machine dispenses candy."
Other businesses have landed in the center of a national debate over Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Last week, Crystal O'Connor of Memories Pizza told a local television reporter her family would refuse requests to cater a same-sex wedding reception because it conflicted with their faith.
The comments quickly gained national attention, as activists said the Walkerton pizzeria highlighted concerns that Indiana's legislation allowed blanket protections for businesses that engaged in discriminatory practices.
A producer from conservative news network the Blaze later started a GoFundMe fundraiser page for the pizzeria's owners, which came to an end after collecting more than $842,000 from more than 29,000 donors as of Saturday.
"The intent was to help the family stave off the burdensome cost of having the media parked out front, activists tearing them down, and no customers coming in," wrote Lawrence Jones, the producer.
Information for this article was contributed by Sarah Parvini of the Los Angeles Times.
A Section on 04/05/2015