TRENTON — New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has joined amicus briefs in two federal lawsuits pertaining to LGBT discrimination, including Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which is currently pending before the U.S Supreme Court.
Both cases involve sexual orientation discrimination including Telescope Media Group v. Lindsey, involving a Minnesota videography business that refused to film same-sex weddings and the case involving the Masterpiece Cakeshop and the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, according to the Attorney General's Office.
“We are committed to fighting discrimination and ensuring equal treatment regardless of race, sex, disability, or sexual orientation, and we will do everything in our power to protect the civil rights of all New Jersey residents,” Grewal said in a news release. “By joining these amicus briefs we are simply ensuring that there is equal protection under the law for all.”
Also according to the Attorney General's Office, arguments made in both cases are similar to a 2007 New Jersey case involving the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association that violated the state's Law Against Discrimination (LAD) by not allowing a same-sex couple to hold their civil union ceremony on the association's boardwalk pavilion.
“A ruling that allows business owners a ‘free speech’ or ‘free exercise’ right to discriminate against certain customers would make it difficult for New Jersey to enforce its own anti-discrimination laws and protect the rights of all New Jersey residents,” Grewal said in a statement.