Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

Maysville became the tenth Kentucky city to make sexual orientation and gender identity a civil right. They're called Fairness Ordinances and are supposed to foster tolerance but unfortunately, they've been used to undermine the faith of those who want to run their business according to their deepest principles. Businesspeople like Washington florist Baronnelle Stutzman, Oregon Bakers, Aaron and Melissa Klein, and Kentucky Graphic artist Blaine Adamson. In each case the law was weaponized and forced each to choose between steep fines and keeping their business open or violating their deepest convictions. The Maysville City Council may not have been aware of the law's downside but if the laws are ever invoked to coerce citizens to violate their conscience, they'll be the first ones to hear about it.