Virginia wedding photographer sues over pro-LGBT state law

A Virginia wedding photographer filed a lawsuit in federal court this week to stop a state law from going into effect that would require him to promote same-sex weddings on his website, saying it violates his First Amendment rights.

Chris Herring, the owner of Chris Herring Photography, filed his 53-page complaint in Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday ahead of the Virginia Values Act going into effect later this week.
The state law bans businesses from discriminating against LGBT people on the basis of sexual orientation. It also contains a publication clause that forbids individuals from publishing content that discriminates against LGBT people.

“Virginia interprets this law to force Chris to do more than serve LGBT clients (which Chris already does). Virginia instead requires Chris to promote content he disagrees with—to create and convey photographs and blogs celebrating same-sex weddings because he does so for weddings between a man and a woman,” the complaint said.

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