Minnesota video company challenges state’s same-sex marriage law

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The owners of a video company have filed a legal challenge to Minnesota’s same-sex marriage law because they want to shoot weddings for heterosexual couples only.

Carl and Angel Larsen say they will be punished for refusing wedding services to same-sex couples. The St. Cloud couple owns Telescope Media Group and filed a lawsuit against the state’s human rights commission and attorney general.

The Star Tribune says their federal lawsuit has the backing of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal nonprofit organization. Minnesota Human Rights Commissioner Kevin Lindsey says the lawsuit is part of a pattern of litigation nationwide aimed at eroding the rights of the LGBTQ community.

Minnesota’s same-sex marriage law was enacted in 2013. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the fundamental right to marriage is guaranteed to all.

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