LEXINGTON, Ky., April 28 (UPI) -- A Kentucky t-shirt maker was vindicated by a court under religious freedom after refusing to make gay pride t-shirts.

Lexington's Gay and Lesbian Services Organization tried to purchase the shirts for a gay pride festival from the printer Hands on Originals. Blythe Adamson refused the 2012 order because the shirt had "Lexington Pride Festival" and had a list of sponsors on the back. Adamson claimed the message conflicted with her and the company's beliefs.


The GLSO complained to the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, which ruled a business can't discriminate based on sexual orientation.

The case went to Fayette County Circuit Court, where Judge James Ishmael overturned the ruling on the commission. He stated the decision of the business was not in regards to the customer's sexual orientation, but of the message the shirt conveyed.

Martin Cothran, spokesman for The Family Foundation of Kentucky, praised the ruling as a protection of the owner's religious freedom.

"We are pleased to see some courts are still acknowledging the First Amendment's right to religious freedom. And that the 'PC police' are not quite powerful enough to convince courts that it doesn't exist."

The ruling comes after laws such as the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act in Indiana have come under fire for enabling establishments to refuse service based on a customer's sexual orientation under the guise of religious freedom.

The GLSO expressed its disappointment in the ruling in a statement posted on the organization's website.

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