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303 CREATIVE LLC v. ELENIS 

Opinion of the Court 

websites  will  discuss  how  the  couple  met,  explain  their 
backgrounds, families, and future plans, and provide infor-
mation about their upcoming wedding.  All of the text and 
graphics on these websites will be “original,” “customized,” 
and “tailored” creations.  Id., at 187a.  The websites will be 
“expressive in nature,” designed “to communicate a partic-
ular message.”  Id., at 181a.  Viewers will know, too, “that 
the  websites  are  [Ms.  Smith’s]  original  artwork,”  for  the
name of the company she owns and operates by herself will
be displayed on every one.  Id., at 187a. 

While  Ms.  Smith  has  laid  the  groundwork  for  her  new 
venture,  she  has  yet  to  carry  out  her  plans.    She  worries 
that, if she does so, Colorado will force her to express views
with which she disagrees.  Ms. Smith provides her website 
and graphic services to customers regardless of their race, 
creed, sex, or sexual orientation.  Id., at 184a.  But she has 
never created expressions that contradict her own views for
anyone—whether  that  means  generating  works  that  en-
courage violence, demean another person, or defy her reli-
gious beliefs by, say, promoting atheism.  See ibid.; see also 
Tr. of Oral Arg. 19–20.  Ms. Smith does not wish to do oth-
erwise now, but she worries Colorado has different plans. 
Specifically,  she  worries  that,  if  she  enters  the  wedding 
website  business,  the  State  will  force  her  to  convey  mes-
sages inconsistent with her belief that marriage should be
reserved to unions between one man and one woman.  App.
to Pet. for Cert. 177a–190a.  Ms. Smith acknowledges that 
her views about marriage may not be popular in all quar-
ters.  But, she asserts, the First Amendment’s Free Speech
Clause protects her from being compelled to speak what she 
does not believe.  The Constitution, she insists, protects her 
right to differ. 

To clarify her rights, Ms. Smith filed a lawsuit in federal 

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