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Ellen DeGeneres and more stars were angry over another major Supreme Court decision that was made June 30. The conservative majority of the court ruled 6-3 in favor of an evangelical Christian web designer from Colorado, who refuses to create a website for same-sex weddings, according to NBC News. The opinion, which was penned by Justice Neil Gorsuch, declared that the web designer Lorie Smith “has a free speech right under the Constitution’s First Amendment” to deny her services to same-sex couples. The ruling may mean that other business owners can discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community even in the 29 states that protect LGBTQ rights, per NBC News.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas voted in favor of the ruling. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the dissenting opinion with support from Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan. Sotomayor reportedly called the SCOTUS’ decision “heartbreaking” and said it was part of “a backlash to the movement for liberty and equality for gender and sexual minorities.”
The SCOTUS’ ruling against the LGBTQ community came the same day they blocked Joe Biden‘s student debt forgiveness plan, and the day after they ruled affirmative action unconstitutional. Many celebrities spoke out on June 29 against the overturning of colleges and universities being able to consider race when deciding admissions. And now Hollywood is railing against the SCOTUS again for limiting LGBTQ protections. See reactions from Ellen, Ben Platt, and more.
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres took to Instagram to share part of Sotomayor’s dissenting opinion that read, “Our Constitution contains no right to refuse service to a disfavored group. This is heartbreaking.” In her own words, Ellen wrote, “We all need to pay attention to what’s happening in our country.”
Ben Platt & Noah Galvin
Engaged couple Ben Platt and Noah Galvin addressed the SCOTUS’ ruling on the “Just for Variety” podcast. “I think it’s a distraction from things that are actually important, like the planet melting,” Ben said. “I also think it’s the people who are losing clout, it’s like the last rageful fiery, ‘This is not how it should be!’ before they go away forever. It’s my only hope. That’s the only way to stay any kind of optimistic about it because otherwise it’s just fully going back in time and harming people for no reason. It feels so backwards, so directly backwards.”
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