Free Republic

WASHINGTON — A New Mexico law forbids businesses open to the public to discriminate against gay people. Elaine Huguenin, a photographer, says she has no problem with that — so long as it does not force her to say something she does not believe. In asking the Supreme Court to hear her challenge to the law, Ms. Huguenin said that she would “gladly serve gays and lesbians — by, for example, providing them with portrait photography,” but that she did not want to tell the stories of same-sex weddings. To make her celebrate something her religion tells her is wrong,...

MONDAY • August 26, 2013 Anyone who still doubts that the normalization of homosexuality and the legalization of same-sex marriage will represent a seismic shift in the culture at large needs only to look to New Mexico to see that nothing less than religious liberty is now under threat—and in a big way. Jonathan and Elaine Huguenin are the owners of Elane Photography, a firm that operates as a commercial photographic studio. Elaine is the lead photographer and the Huguenins together run the business. In 2006, the couple refused to photograph a same-sex couple’s commitment ceremony and were sued. Last...

In 2006, Vanessa Willock asked Elaine Huguenin, who co-owns Elane Photography in Albuquerque with her husband, Jonathan, to photograph a “commitment ceremony” that Willock and Misty Pascottini wanted to hold in Taos. Rather than saying that she was unavailable on that date, Ms. Huguenin declined because of her Christian beliefs. She believed that their Christian faith was in conflict with the message communicated by such a “ceremony.” Willock and Pascottini found another photographer, but nevertheless filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission accusing Elane Photography of discrimination. The Commission held a one-day hearing, issued an order finding...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A week after announcing his resignation, embattled Secretary of State Kevin Shelley quietly named a Sacramento area attorney to a four-year term on the state board that regulates California's political campaigns. Shelley appointed A. Eugene Huguenin, a former staff lawyer for the California Teachers Association, to succeed Thomas Knox on the Fair Political Practices Commission. Knox's term expired Jan. 31. Shelley, facing allegations that he mishandled federal election funds, accepted tainted campaign contributions and sexually harassed employees, announced Feb. 4 that he would leave office March 1. According to news reports, the FPPC is one of the...