WND EXCLUSIVE

CHRISTIAN ARTISTS GO ON OFFENSE TO KILL ANTI-FAITH LAW

'Joanna and Breanna must create art and run their business in ways that honor God'

A Colorado baker discovered his state’s discrimination laws restrict the practice of his Christian faith after he became the target of a complaint. So did two Oregon bakers, a Washington state florist, a New Mexico photographer and other business owners.

But two Christian artists in Phoenix who run a service providing custom images and invitations to various events, including weddings, aren’t waiting for that dreaded moment to come.

They’ve pre-preemptively sued Phoenix, demanding that the city get rid of an ordinance that discriminates on the basis of religion and endangers them and their business with possible fines and even jail time.

The city code section they cite, Paragraph 18.4(B), “compels artists to create art that contradicts their artistic and religious beliefs. It prevents artists from discussing what art they can and cannot create. And it does so through investigations, criminal fines, and jail time,” notes a new lawsuit on behalf of Brush & Nib Studio and owners Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski.

The ordinance, as admitted in Koski and Duka’s motion, “bars public accommodations from discriminating on the basis of a person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability and from making any communication implying people will be discriminated against or are objectionable because of these protected traits.”

Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski

The complaint asserts, “By compelling artists to create and by silencing their speech [the code] violates the Arizona Constitution’s Free Speech Clause, Religious Toleration Clause, Equal Protection Clause, Due Process Clause, and the Arizona Free Exercise of Religion Act.”

“Based on these provisions plaintiffs ask this court to enjoin and declare [the code] unconstitutional so that they and other Arizona artists can return to doing what they do best – create and discuss authentic art that reflects their beliefs, not the government’s.”

Read the Big List of coercive actions against Christians for their faith.

The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court for the State of Arizona in Maricopa County by the Alliance Defending Freedom.

It addresses an issue on which WND has reported extensively: the attack by local governments on Christians who operate businesses according to their religious beliefs.

Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert and Nina Shea have collaborated to create “Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians,” which confirms that groups like Pew Research, Newsweek and The Economist also identify Christians as “the world’s most widely persecuted religious group.”

The plaintiffs in the Arizona case own and operate the studio, which provides hand-painting, hand-lettering and calligraphy for a wide range of events and occasions. The business provides wedding services ranging from invitations to all sorts of wedding day decor, along with services for many other special events. But as a result of their Christian beliefs, Koski and Duka will not accept work for same-sex weddings.

“Like other artists, Joanna and Breanna want to create art, promote art, and run their business according to their artistic vision. And like many artists, Joanna and Breanna define their artistic vision by their religious beliefs,” the complaint states.

“According to these Christian beliefs, Joanna and Breanna must create art, promote art, and run their business in ways that honor God. … They cannot create art for events that celebrate … same-sex marriage.”

Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski

The lawsuit, however, explains that the Phoenix code determines “unlawful” any “discrimination” on sexual orientation.

It even makes it illegal to talk about the issue.

“Artists shouldn’t be threatened with jail for disagreeing with the government,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “The government must allow artists the freedom to make personal decisions about what art they will create and what art they won’t create.

“Just because an artist creates expression that communicates one viewpoint doesn’t mean she is required to express all viewpoints. It’s unjust, unnecessary, and unlawful to force an artist to create against her will and intimidate her into silence,” he said.

ADF explained in a blog that the legal action is a pre-enforcement challenge that “allows citizens to challenge a law – in this case, a law that threatens First Amendment freedoms – before the government enforces it against them.”

In an interview with WND and Radio America, Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel John Scruggs, who is directly involved in this case, said the penalties for violating the ordinance are severe.

“If our clients violate the law, they could suffer up to $2,500 (in fines) for each day they violate the law and also six months in jail for each day they violate the law,” Scruggs said.

Listen to the WND/Radio America interview with John Scruggs: So why go to court when he city hasn’t pointed the finger at Brush & Nib? Scruggs said Koski and Duka don’t want to be looking over their shoulders every day to see if the government is after them.

“Obviously, when you hear, ‘If you violate this law, you’re going to go to jail for a long time and you’re going to suffer these severe financial penalties,’ (this is) the only sane thing a person would do in that situation. They wouldn’t violate the law. They wouldn’t wait around to go to jail. They would challenge the law and ask the court to declare this unconstitutional,” he explained.

Scruggs said the Constitution is clearly on the side of his clients.

“The government makes a bad art critic,” he said. “It really infringes on artists’ rights and the rights of all citizens.”

“It’s really an egregious form of regulation on speech and that’s why it’s really important to stress this case is really about artistic freedom: the freedom of artists to create in accordance with their beliefs and to express and explain their art on their website,” added Scruggs.

Scruggs pointed out Koski and Duka are not opposed to welcoming gay and lesbian customers; it’s attaching their abilities to a particular event that troubles their consciences.

“Our clients willingly will serve people of all different sexual orientations, races, religions, whatever,” he said. “It’s not about the person. It’s about the message that their art is promoting. That shows this isn’t about discrimination. It’s about creating art that only promotes certain beliefs.”

The complaint was accompanied by a motion for preliminary injunction, asking the court to prevent any attacks on constitutional rights under the law while the case is litigated.

“Phoenix has already investigated another business for declining to promote a same-sex wedding ceremony for religious reasons and issued a formal report saying [the ordinance] requires businesses like Brush & Nib – those that create expression – to promote same-sex wedding ceremonies if they promote opposite-sex wedding ceremonies,” the ADF complaint explains.

“Thus, whether public accommodations serve sandwiches or create custom art, Phoenix treats them exactly the same…,” the ADF preliminary injunction brief adds. “By forcing Brush & Nib to create art for same-sex wedding ceremonies, [the ordinance] violates a cardinal free speech principle: speakers have the right to choose the content of their own message.”

The complaint continues: “We simply value art too much to let Phoenix invade the artistic process as if Phoenix were regulating widgets. And make no mistake. Phoenix is playing favorites. It allows artists to speak and create in favor of same-sex marriage yet threatens to incarcerate artists if they speak or create only for opposite-sex marriage. We should all be concerned when the government tries to eradicate a particular idea by silencing adherents and forcing dissenters to profess orthodoxy. When the government manipulates the artistic marketplace and commandeers artists’ minds to squelch an idea, no idea is safe. Everyone eventually loses.”

Read the Big List of coercive actions against Christians for their faith.

WND was unable to obtain comment from the city of Phoenix. There was no answer to a telephone call to the city’s media relations office, an email didn’t generate a response and a city operator hung up on WND after a request for comment.

“No matter how much others may dislike Joanna and Breanna’s beliefs about marriage, the government should neither invade the artist’s ‘freedom of mind’ to compel art nor hinder the artist’s freedom of speech to silence expression about art,” the complaint states. “The Arizona Constitution and Free Exercise of Religion Act provide the freedom for Arizona artists to create and speak in support of marriages they believe in. 

To restore this freedom in Arizona, Joanna Duke, Breanna Koski, and Brush & Nib ask this court to enjoin [the code] and declare that these provisions violate the rights we cherish so dearly – the rights to speak and to create freely.”

See the artists’ promotional video:

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