Michael Imperioli took to social media to share a statement following the Supreme Court decision to side with a Colorado web designer who does not want to create wedding sites for same-sex couples due to religious reasons.
“I’ve decided to forbid bigots and homophobes from watching The Sopranos, The White Lotus, Goodfellas or any movie or tv show I’ve been in,” the actor wrote in an Instagram caption of a photo of a news story announcing the court’s decision.
He continued, “Thank you Supreme Court for allowing me to discriminate and exclude those who I don’t agree with and am opposed to. USA ! USA!” Imperioli also commented on his post, writing, “hate and ignorance is not a legitimate point of view,” and “America is becoming dumber by the minute.”
The court ruled 6-3 in favor of designer Lorie Smith, explaining that she can refuse to design websites for same-sex weddings despite the Colorado law that does not permit discrimination based on sexual orientation, race and gender, among other things. The justices argued that forcing her to create the websites would violate her First Amendment right to free speech.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor led the court’s dissent. She was joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Sotomayor wrote, “Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class.”
“The LGBT rights movement has made historic strides, and I am proud of the role this Court has recently played in that history,” she wrote elsewhere in the dissent. “Today, however, we are taking steps backward. … Today is a sad day in American constitutional law and in the lives of LGBT people.”
