JDate, interfaith weddings and extramarital affairs come up in U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments
Is JDate a ‘dating service for Jewish people?’ Justice Alito asks. ‘It is,’ Kagan says
Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court hearing a case involving gay rights. Courtesy of C-SPAN
By Beth Harpaz December 5, 2022
Laughter broke out in the U.S. Supreme Court Monday as Justice Samuel Alito posed a hypothetical, describing JDate as “a dating service, I gather, for Jewish people?”
“It is,” chimed in Justice Elena Kagan, the sole Jew on the court.
“Maybe Justice Kagan will also be familiar with the next website I’m going to mention,” Alito continued. “Next, a Jewish person asks a Jewish photographer to take a photograph for his AshleyMadison.com …”
He was interrupted by more laughs in the courtroom, and then backtracked on the implication that Kagan is familiar with Ashley Madison, a dating service marketed to married people looking to have affairs. “I’m not suggesting — I mean, she knows a lot of things …” Alito sputtered.
First Amendment vs. gay rights
The case before the court involves a Christian web designer who says it would violate her right to free speech and artistic expression if she were required to create websites celebrates same-sex unions. Hypotheticals posed by Alito, who appeared sympathetic to the designer, focused on forcing business owners to compromise their religious principles.
“A Jewish man and a Jewish woman who are engaged to be married ask a Jewish website designer to build a website to celebrate their upcoming nuptials — no problem,” he posited. But if a Jewish man and Christian woman ask a Jewish designer to build them a wedding website, that would be problematic, Alito suggested.
“Many Jews consider intermarriage an existential threat to the future of Judaism,” he said. “Does that website have to accept the second couple?”
Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olson answered that if a photographer or web designer offers “a general service to the public, then they offer that regardless of the customer’s religion.”
The case, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, is the latest dispute over religion and LGBTQ rights before the high court. The designer in the case says she shouldn’t be forced to do work that conflicts with her faith. Her opponents say that if she wins, it will open the door to businesses refusing to serve customers on the basis of race, religion and other categories.
CLARIFICATION: This version of the story adds that the case includes free speech and artistic expression issues.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
