SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today issued the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court decided an anti-discrimination case, ruling that a Colorado website design business can deny services to a same-sex couple planning a wedding based on personal beliefs:

“This radical Supreme Court majority once again shows its willingness to bend the Constitution to favor conservative views and undo decades of progress. Allowing a business owner to deny service to someone because of who they are or who they love undermines the very freedom that unites all of us.

“As Justice Sotomayor said in her dissent, the court, for the first time in its history, has granted a business “the constitutional right to refuse service to members of a protected class.” This dangerous decision can stretch well beyond same-sex couples, as it opens the door to further assault on basic anti-discrimination laws on the basis of race, gender, or religion. This outrageous and dangerous decision is just the latest blow from a court that seems hellbent on rolling back basic rights, protections, and freedoms that generations of Americans have fought so hard for.”

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