Earlier this year, Elmira, NY, wedding photographer Emilee Carpenter filed a federal lawsuit against the state of New York after she was asked to capture the weddings of 7 same-sex couples but said it went against her religious beliefs. On December 16, U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. of Western New York, dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that “the Court is not persuaded by Carpenter’s claims.”

According to news reports, Carpenter (who owns Emilee Carpenter Photography) said she had gotten multiple requests from same-sex couples to photograph their weddings and feared she would be penalized for not honoring those requests by state agencies authorized to enforce anti-discrimination laws. Penalties can include fines of up to $100,000, a revoked business license and up to a year in jail, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an Arizona-based, Christian, nonprofit advocacy group representing Carpenter.

[Read: Photographer Sues Virginia Over Anti-Discrimination Law]

The photographer first filed her lawsuit against the Office of the Attorney General, the state Division of Human Rights, and the Chemung County District Attorney’s Office in October, claiming that New York’s anti-discrimination laws violated her right to refuse to photograph same-sex marriages and that the New York’s public accommodation laws violate her First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.

At the time, Carpenter said the laws substantially burdened her religious beliefs by requiring her to either operate her expressive business in a way that violated her beliefs or forced her to close her business.

[Read: LGBTQ+ Inclusive Language Guide for Wedding Vendors]

New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James said the fact that the judged dismissed the lawsuit is “a huge victory in our pursuit to ensure that every New Yorker has equal access and equal protection under the law. The LGBTQ+ community is an integral part of New York, and no New Yorker should be excluded or turned away from a business or denied a service because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Love is love, which is why my office will always fight to ensure that all New Yorkers are treated equally under the law.”

[Read: 5 Legal Issues Photographers Must Know to Protect Business]

The AG’s office also said that the judge who dismissed the lawsuit cited that “historically underserved, disfavored, or disadvantaged individuals are entitled to the same access to the public marketplace as afforded to everyone else, including members of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is reportedly appealing the judge’s dismissal, hoping to get the U.S. Supreme Court to look at the case.

Said ADF Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs in a released statement, “The court’s decision continues down a dangerous path of the government compelling artists to speak messages that violate their religious beliefs—or imposing steep fines, closing their businesses, or throwing them in jail. Artists like Emilee Carpenter and Lorie Smith are protected under the Constitution to freely live and work according to their religious beliefs. Yet the 10th Circuit’s Orwellian decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis opened the door for government officials to compel all manner of speech—forcing total compliance of state-approved speech or be treated as criminals.”

You can read the full decision here.

(Featured image © Yacobchuk1/Depositphotos)