CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A wedding planner said a recent United States Supreme Court decision opens the door to continued discrimination against same-sex and other LGBTQ+ couples across the region.

The decision, announced earlier this summer on June 30, the last day of Pride month, said a Colorado website designer was not required to accept work from a same-sex couple requesting a wedding website. The court’s majority ruled it violated the designer’s free speech protections. 

“The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands. Because Colorado seeks to deny that promise, the judgment is Reversed,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion.

What You Need To Know

  •  Charlotte-area wedding planner says 1 in 10 vendors refuse work for LGBTQ+ couples

  •  A professional photographer says LGBTQ+ clients often express unease with requesting service, worried about potential discrimination 

  •  The Supreme Court ruled a Colorado website designer could refuse to create a same-sex wedding website, saying it violated her free speech protections 

A wedding planner and a photographer in the Charlotte area both said LGBTQ+ customers face discrimination from vendors for events like weddings. Now, after the ruling, they said the problem will likely continue. 

“I wouldn’t say it would get worse. I would say we still have a ways to go,” Matt Starnes said. “We still have steps, leaps and boundaries that we need to take. As an industry, as individuals of our area, but I definitely say that it’s going to be a process. To where, we kind of need to push forward, and still try to progress in a way and a manner that we need to do so.”

Starnes is the lead planner and designer at the Hospitality Butler, a wedding and event planning business based in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He organizes dozens of weddings a year for a diverse array of couples. Starnes describes himself as an inclusive, and gay, wedding planner.

“Around seven years now, so 99% of the job that we do is wedding and events. We also do corporate events as well,” Starnes detailed.

But after doing hundreds of weddings across the south and east coast, working with thousands of vendors, Starnes said discrimination against same-sex and other LGBTQ+ couples continues.

“Even after being in business for seven years, even after going through as much progression as we have as a nation, in our area and as a state, we still see it, and it’s still prominent as of today,” Starnes said.“Even after being in business for seven years, even after going through as much progression as we have as a nation, in our area and as a state, we still see it, and it’s still prominent as of today,” Starnes said.

One in 10 vendors have an issue participating in, or being hired for, an LGBTQ+ wedding, Starnes claimed.

In Charlotte, a professional photographer said he hears about it from clients frequently.

“I’ve actually worked with a lot of people who have had issues or just been nervous to approach people, because they’re unsure,” Bobby Kerns said.

Kerns photographs more than a hundred weddings, events and private photoshoots every year. He said one of his first and largest events was Charlotte Pride, which opened the door to other LGBTQ+ clientele. Now, he said members of LGBTQ+ communities account for more than half his business.

Additionally, Kerns said the recent Supreme Court ruling put creators on the spot, saying they need to make it clear if they do or do not provide services to a diverse clientele. 

“Regardless of the ruling or not, I think that people who are inclusive, should just do their due diligence to make sure that — if you are accepting of all, you should just let people know that,” Kerns said.

He said he ensures his social media channels feature a diverse collection of his clientele to let potential clients know he is an ally and inclusive.

Back at Starnes’ Rock Hill office, he said the ruling shows service industry businesses still have work to do.

“I would say from one business to another, we need to kind of put all that in a melting pot and understand where we’re in, and what we need to be evolving for. It’s something for everyone, not just this individual or that individual. It needs to be for all,” Starnes said.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “The Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.”