BOSTON – Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey, the first LGBTQ+ Governor of Massachusetts and one of the first lesbian Governors in the United States, issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court decision in the case of 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis finding that a website designer has a First Amendment right to refuse to serve LGBTQ+ customers. 

“This decision is deeply disappointing and yet another example of the Supreme Court’s callous disregard for the wellbeing of the very communities that need protecting.

The courts have long recognized that laws safeguarding customers from discrimination don’t infringe on the right to free speech.

Freedom isn’t using the First Amendment as license to shut your doors on LGBTQ+ customers. Freedom is the ability to live and love openly without fear.

Massachusetts will always stand for freedom and equality because it wasn’t about a cake then, and it’s not about a website now.”