Podcast appearances and mentions of blaine adamson

Blaine Adamson is the owner of Hands On Originals, a “Christian Outfitters” shop in Lexington, Kentucky. Hands On creates customized apparel such as t-shirts, hoodies, and baseball caps. In 2012, when Adamson got a phone call from the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization (or, GLSO) asking him to print t-shirts for a local gay pride festival, he explained that he could not accept the order because it would mean expressing a message that violated his Christian faith. He offered to refer GLSO to another shop that would gladly help them.   You can probably guess what happened next. The GLSO filed a complaint with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission. GLSO also widely publicized what happened, which led to protests, a boycott, vile phone calls, and threats of violence. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission ruled against Adamson and ordered him to print whatever GLSO wanted. But even that wasn't enough. Taking a page out from the Colorado Civil Rights Commission's “How to Persecute Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop” Playbook, they ordered Adamson to undergo diversity training. Thankfully, in a positive similarity to the Jack Phillips case, Blaine Adamson received help from the Alliance Defending Freedom. Even though two different lower courts ruled in favor of Adamson, GLSO took its case to the Kentucky Supreme Court. On Thursday, seven years after the incident, the Court ruled unanimously that GLSO had no standing, and therefore no right, to sue Adamson. The Court ruled that because it was an organization and not an individual, GLSO had no standing under Kentucky law to file a suit. Which means, as the Alliance Defending Freedom explained, the decision “didn't directly address the broader First Amendment questions concerning Blaine's right to live and work consistently with his faith.” However—and this is important—in his concurring opinion, Justice David Buckingham made clear that the Human Rights Commission “went beyond its charge of preventing discrimination in public accommodation and instead attempted to compel Hands On to engage in expression with which it disagreed.” He then cited the Supreme Court's ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop, adding, “the government may not regulate expression, either by prohibiting disfavored expression or compelling favored expression.” Justice Buckingham went even further, putting on record that Hands On Originals doesn't discriminate based on, well, anything. “The record discloses three essential facts,” Buckingham wrote. “First, Hands On has an established practice of declining orders because of what Hands On perceives to be their morally-objectionable messages,” including sexually explicit or violent messages. “Second, Hands On accepted and completed an order from a lesbian singer who performed at the 2012 Pride Festival. Third, at no time did Hands On inquire or know the sexual orientation or gender identity of the persons with whom it dealt with on behalf of GLSO. These facts indicate that Hands On was in good faith objecting to the message it was being asked to disseminate.” Hopefully, with another decision like this in the books, Christian business owners will soon no longer be forces to accept and promote the new sexual orthodoxy. If that day comes, it's a win for everyone. After all, if Christians can be forced to promote messages with which they fundamentally disagree, then, as ADF points out, “it can force anyone to do the same… an LGBT printer who declines to create t-shirts criticizing same-sex marriage, a Democratic speechwriter who declines to write speeches for the Republican National Convention, or a Muslim singer who declines to sing Christian songs at a concert.” That's a world none of us want to live in. Come to BreakPoint.org and click on this commentary for more resources on the Hands On Case, as well as to ADF and other organizations that defend free speech and religious liberty.  

Mark Davis invites Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Jim Campbell to share the latest on a case in Kentucky that forced t-shirt print shop owner Blaine Adamson to print shirts that violated his religious beliefs. The case is Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission v. Hands On Originals.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blaine Adamson, owner of promotional printing company Hands On Originals, has turned down several requests to create shirts based on the message that he was asked to print on them. But when he declined one particular design, he faced a public smear campaign and a lawsuit that threatened to destroy his business. Blaine could have folded then. But five years later, he hasn’t. And he has no intention of doing so now. First and foremost, Blaine is standing for his faith – it’s the most important part of who he is, and it guides everything he does. And he is also standing for his freedom of conscience and the principle that no American should be forced to speak a message or promote an event that conflicts with their faith. If we don’t have the freedom to decline to express messages that violate our convictions, that should concern us all. A Kentucky court recently ruled in Blaine’s favor, upholding his right to decline to print messages that conflict with his beliefs. Now, the Kentucky Supreme Court will decide whether to hear his case. This week on Freedom Matters, Blaine and ADF attorney Jim Campbell join the show to discuss the case.

Blaine Adamson, owner of promotional printing company Hands On Originals, has turned down several requests to create shirts based on the message that he was asked to print on them. But when he declined one particular design, he faced a public smear campaign and a lawsuit that threatened to destroy his business. Blaine could have folded then. But five years later, he hasn’t. And he has no intention of doing so now. First and foremost, Blaine is standing for his faith – it’s the most important part of who he is, and it guides everything he does. And he is also standing for his freedom of conscience and the principle that no American should be forced to speak a message or promote an event that conflicts with their faith. If we don’t have the freedom to decline to express messages that violate our convictions, that should concern us all. A Kentucky court recently ruled in Blaine’s favor, upholding his right to decline to print messages that conflict with his beliefs. Now, the Kentucky Supreme Court will decide whether to hear his case. This week on Freedom Matters, Blaine and ADF attorney Jim Campbell join the show to discuss the case.

Imagine if you or someone you know lost their job or business because of their point of view. Imagine if they were being pressured to endorse a view they disagreed with and they got fired because they refused to cave. This is exactly what happened to our guests Blaine Adamson and David Jones. Their religious […]

Alliance Defending Freedom Jim Campbell discusses the recent and important religious freedom victory in Kentucky! The appeals court issued a ruling affirming business owner Blaine Adamson’s freedom to decline orders that would require him to promote a message in conflict with his religious beliefs.

Guests this hour - Chris Hormer (Competitive Enterprise Institute), Blaine Adamson, and ADF. -MORE this hour with ADF and helping fight for religious freedom across the nation. Blaine Adamson shares testimony. -Suspicious package found at LAX airport. -AND Chris Horner joins the show to talk about the climate conference going on in Paris, government mandates, CA. and fracking! The Mark Larson Show mornings 6-9, on AM 1170 "The Answer".