“As followers of Jesus, we believe marriage is a sacred covenant, instituted by God, exclusively between a man and woman."

Angel and Carl Larsen, a Minnesota couple, wanted to start filming weddings as part of their media production company, Telescope Media Group—as long as those weddings were between a man and a woman.

According to The New York Times, “the state’s Human Rights Act, which prohibits a refusal to do business based on sexual orientation, hindered their plans to expand into wedding videos and infringed on their constitutional rights, including freedom of speech.”

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In December 2016, the Larsens filed a lawsuit against Kevin Lindsey, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, and Lori Swanson, Minnesota’s attorney general.

This week Judge John R. Tunheim, ruled against them, stating refusal to film same-sex weddings would be like hanging a sign that read “White Applicants Only.”

Court documents show that the goal of Larsens’ media production company, Telescope Media Group, is to “magnify Christ like a telescope.” In the documents they stated that they wanted to fight against a “powerful cultural narrative undermining the historic, biblically orthodox definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.”

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“Telescope Media Group exists to glorify God through top-quality media production,” it read. “Because of TMG’s owners’ religious beliefs and expressive purposes, it cannot make films promoting any conception of marriage that contradicts its religious beliefs that marriage is between one man and one woman, including films celebrating same-sex marriages.”





“Posting language on a website telling potential customers that a business will discriminate based on sexual orientation is part of the act of sexual orientation discrimination itself,” said Judge Tunheim. “As conduct carried out through language, this act is not protected by the First Amendment.”

“Tolerance is a two-way street,” said Jeremy Tedesco, who represented the Larsens. “Creative professionals who engage in the expression of ideas shouldn’t be threatened with fines and jail simply for having a particular point of view about marriage that the government may not favor.”

Last year Carl Larsen wrote a commentary piece in Minnesota’s Star Tribune, about why they were refusing to film same-sex weddings:

“As followers of Jesus, we believe marriage is a sacred covenant, instituted by God, exclusively between a man and woman. Ultimately, we believe marriage exists to put God’s goodness on full display to the world. That’s why we want to enter into the wedding market. We want to tell the stories of couples who agree with this reality, and join in their celebration by adding our creativity to their union through our efforts behind the camera and in the editing room.”

The civil penalties for violating Minnesota’s Human Rights Act can be as high as $25,000.