--- description: New Mexico's high court said a photographer's refusal to photograph same-sex weddings because it violated her religious beliefs was discriminatory, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear her appeal title: Supreme Court Refuses Appeal of Photographer Who Discriminates Against Same-Sex Couples image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LGBT](/tag/lgbt/) ## LGBT Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Supreme Court Denies Photographer's Appeal Over Same-Sex Ceremonies  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 7, 2014 4:25 PM CUT  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 7, 2014 4:25 PM CUT The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday an appeal from a New Mexico photographer who argued that photographing same-sex weddings violates her right to religious freedom. New Mexico’s Supreme Court previously ruled that Elane Photography violated state anti-discrimination laws by refusing to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony. Co-owner Elaine Huguenin argued that photographing the ceremony would violate her religious beliefs. Huguenin also said she has a right to artistic expression under the First Amendment that allows her to decide which photos to take, the Associated Press [reports. ](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FSUPREME%5FCOURT%5FPHOTO%5FDISCRIMINATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT "undefined") After losing at New Mexico’s high court, Huguenin appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the justices didn’t bite, instead letting the state’s ruling stand. \[[AP](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FSUPREME%5FCOURT%5FPHOTO%5FDISCRIMINATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/51977/supreme-court-same-sex-photographer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/51977/supreme-court-same-sex-photographer/"},"headline":"Supreme Court Denies Photographer's Appeal Over Same-Sex Ceremonies","datePublished":"2014-04-07T16:25:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:10:19.445Z","description":"New Mexico's high court said a photographer's refusal to photograph same-sex weddings because it violated her religious beliefs was discriminatory, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear her appeal","url":"https://time.com/51977/supreme-court-same-sex-photographer/","keywords":["LGBT","Supreme Court","Religion","Law","faith","New Mexico"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/lgbt/","name":"LGBT"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/51977/supreme-court-same-sex-photographer/","name":"Supreme Court Denies Photographer's Appeal Over Same-Sex Ceremonies"}}]}] ```