Description: A Louisville, Kentucky, law forces a local photographer and blogger to use her artistic talents to promote same-sex wedding ceremonies if she photographs and blogs about weddings between one man and one woman. The law also forbids her and her studio from publicly explaining to clients and potential clients through her studio’s own website or social media sites the religious reasons why she only celebrates wedding ceremonies between one man and one woman.
Court holds Louisville responsible for trying to silence wedding photographer
ADF attorneys represent Chelsey Nelson, her studio in free speech case
Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In a victory for free speech on Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky held Louisville accountable for violating the First Amendment rights of a wedding photographer and blogger and protected her freedom to speak messages that align with her religious beliefs.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Chelsey Nelson and her photography studio filed the lawsuit Chelsey Nelson Photography v. Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government in 2019 because Louisville’s law prohibited Nelson from expressing her views on marriage on her studio’s website and threatened to compel her to create photographs and blogs celebrating a message about marriage she does not believe. The district court kept a permanent bar in place that prevents Louisville from enforcing its law against Nelson in this way. The court also ordered Louisville to pay Nelson nominal damages for restricting her speech. Nominal damages are a type of compensation that remedy past harm, prevent future misconduct, and vindicate constitutional freedoms.
“Free speech is for everyone. As the U.S. Supreme Court held two years ago in 303 Creative v. Elenis, Americans have the freedom to express and create messages that align with their beliefs without fear of government punishment,” said ADF Senior Counsel Bryan Neihart. “For over five years, Louisville officials said they could force Chelsey to promote views about marriage that violated her religious beliefs. But the First Amendment leaves decisions about what to say with the people, not the government. The district court’s decisions rests on this bedrock First Amendment principle and builds on the victory in 303 Creative.”
“The government can’t force Americans to say things they don’t believe, and state officials have paid and will continue to pay a price when they violate this foundational freedom,” Nelson said. “The freedom to speak without fear of censorship is a God-given constitutionally guaranteed right. I’m grateful for my legal team at Alliance Defending Freedom that brought my case to victory not only for me, but for every other artist in Louisville.”
“[303 Creative] confirmed this Court’s 2022 interpretation of the First Amendment to bar the City of Louisville from enforcing an ordinance prohibiting wedding photographer Chelsey Nelson from stating her traditional (now dissenting) views on traditional marriage or declining to participate in those ceremonies,” the court wrote in its opinion.
In 2022, the district court ruled that the First Amendment protects Nelson’s freedom to create photographs and blogs promoting her religious beliefs about marriage and permanently blocked Louisville from enforcing its law against her. The city appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. While the case was on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court decided 303 Creative v. Elenis, a monumental decision that held that government officials cannot force artists to create speech they disagree with. The Sixth Circuit returned the case to the district court after 303 Creative and other developments but otherwise kept the decision “in place.”
Yesterday, the district court confirmed its prior ruling in favor of free speech, kept the injunction protecting Nelson in effect, and awarded her nominal damages for the period of time that Louisville officials chilled her speech to vindicate her Louisville’s violation of her constitutional rights.
- Pronunciation guide: Neihart (NYE’-hart)
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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