Christian bookstore in Colorado Springs sues Colorado over new anti-discrimination act
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The owners of a Christian bookstore in Colorado Springs are suing the state over a new anti-discrimination law they claim violates First Amendment rights by forcing them to use pronouns that conflict with their religious beliefs.
Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of Born Again Used Books, a family-owned bookstore operated by Eric and Sara Smith, with the aim of "seeking to uphold religious and commonsense beliefs about biological sex."
The lawsuit challenges the Kelly Loving Act, a new state law named after a woman who was killed during the 2022 Club Q shooting.
The act, signed into state law in May, amends the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) to expand protections for transgender individuals, recognizing misgendering and deadnaming as forms of discrimination and prohibiting such acts in public spaces.
READ MORE: Colorado bill honoring Club Q shooting victim seeks to expand protections for transgender people
Under the revised CADA, businesses classified as “public accommodations” – including bookstores – are prohibited from denying services, advertising in a discriminatory way, or making customers feel unwelcome based on gender expression.
In the lawsuit, the bookstore owners argue that this amended policy infringes on their First Amendment rights to free speech and religious freedom by forcing them to express beliefs they don't hold.
The lawsuit states that the bookstore’s owners believe that "God created everyone in His image, male or female," and that "sex is immutable." Born Again Used Books says it welcomes all customers, but cannot affirm “gender choices” that contradict its religious views.
"Although Born Again Used Books happily sells its products to everyone, Colorado now compels the bookstore to speak using pronouns and titles based on a person’s preferred gender expression—thereby requiring the store to prioritize a person’s professed identity over biological reality," Alliance Defending Freedom said in a release. "That violates the Christian bookstore’s beliefs and the First Amendment."
In the lawsuit, the store says it wants to be transparent with customers by formalizing this policy into a written pronoun policy and publishing blog posts explaining its reasoning – but the owners believe these actions would now be illegal under the amended Colorado law.
"Because CADA now makes all this illegal, Born Again Used Books must instead profess an ideological view it opposes ... and avoid explaining its Christian beliefs about human sexuality in store and online," the lawsuit reads in part. "In effect, the law requires this Christian bookstore to abandon its core religious beliefs."
The bookstore is now asking a federal court to block Colorado from enforcing parts of the anti-discrimination law. Specifically, the lawsuit seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction to stop the enforcement of provisions related to gender expression and pronouns.
The lawsuit names Aubrey Sullivan, the director of the Colorado Civil Rights Division, multiple members of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.
KRDO13 reached out to the Attorney General's Office, which said it had no comment on the active litigation.
Read a copy of the full lawsuit here.
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