US Supreme Court deals setback to LGBT rights, strikes down Biden’s student-loan forgiveness plan

The US Supreme Court on Friday made two high-profile controversial decisions amid its most important rulings of the year.

In a blow to LGBT rights, the justices ruled that the constitutional right to free speech allows certain businesses to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings, ruling in favour of a web designer who cited her Christian beliefs in challenging a Colorado anti-discrimination law.

On the same day, the court handed US President Joe Biden a painful defeat, blocking his plan to cancel US$430 billion in student loan debt – a move that had been intended to benefit up to 43 million Americans and fulfil a campaign promise.

In a 6-3 decision wrote by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, the justices overturned a lower court’s ruling that had rejected Denver-area business owner Lorie Smith’s bid for an exemption from a Colorado law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and other factors.

Smith’s business, called 303 Creative, sells custom web designs. The dispute focused on protections for freedom of speech under the US Constitution’s First Amendment.

“The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands,” Gorsuch wrote.