After a seven-year legal battle, Lexington graphic artist Blaine Adamson won a case that affirmed his First Amendment freedoms of speech. Adamson was ordered by the Lexington Human Rights Commission to undergo diversity training because he refused to print T-shirts for a gay pride parade. He objected and after a lengthy legal fight, the Kentucky Supreme Court held that Adamson was within his right to refuse to print messages that violated his religious belief. Justice David Buckingham wrote in a concurring opinion that said “Hands On was in good faith objecting to the message it was being asked to disseminate.” He referenced a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that said “[w]hen speech is compelled…, individuals are coerced into betraying their convictions. Forcing free and independent individuals to endorse ideas they find objectionable is always demeaning….”
