IN RESPONSE TO SUPREME COURT RULINGS

In response to the Supreme Court’s rulings on affirmative action and LGBTQ+ rights and religious freedoms on July 29th and 30th, 2023, Pacific Pride Foundation’s Executive Director, Kristin Flickinger issued the following statement:

Santa Barbara, CA – Today’s Supreme Court decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis retreats on decades of protections for the LGBTQ+ community. By allowing a website designer to refuse to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings, the court has eroded public accommodations laws requiring retailers to provide goods and services to all people regardless of status, including sexual orientation, gender, race, and ability. As Justice Sotomayor stated in her dissenting opinion:

“By issuing this new license to discriminate in a case brought by a company that seeks to deny same-sex couples the full and equal enjoyment of its services, the immediate, symbolic effect of the decision is to mark gays and lesbians for second-class status.”

While the decision undermines the civil rights laws that protect all of us from discrimination in our daily lives, it does not remove all anti-discrimination protections, including protections against discrimination in housing, employment or banking, which remain enshrined in federal law. The case relies heavily on the specific facts of the case, making it unclear to what extent today’s ruling will have broader impact.

Equally disturbing is the series of Supreme Court decisions issued in recent years that make our country less safe for LGBTQ+ people, women, and people of color, including yesterday’s decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions. Pacific Pride Foundation joins hundreds of local, state and national social justice organizations in condemning the upending of decades of precedent that allowed America’s colleges and universities to expand educational opportunities for all. 

While our communities are under attack from many directions, we know that the majority of people in this country support our rights. Now more than ever, community organizations like Pacific Pride Foundation need to look to each other, stand together, and remain firm in our commitment to advance racial equity and civil rights for all. Pacific Pride Foundation remains committed to ensuring a vibrant, thriving, and visible LGBTQ+ community, and to standing with our partners as we continue our work in the face of these latest threats.