Dominique Galbraith, a New York-based bridal designer, has been engaged in a years-long legal battle after she was sued for refusing to create a design for a same-sex couple who wished to get married.
The situation arose in 2019 when Galbraith declined Tiffany Allen’s and Angel Lane’s order due to her Christian beliefs. She told Journey Magazine’s Charrise Lane that she “can’t make a garment for a same sex wedding, it goes against my faith.”
NYC Bridal Designer Sued for Denying Same Sex Couple Bridal Jumpsuit Design
— Charrise Lane (@CharriseJLane) January 25, 2025
https://t.co/FWswAqPTvu
While communicating with the couple, Galbraith shared her faith and explained her reasons for declining their order. She was later sued for discrimination in a case filed with the New York Human Rights Division.
“I received the email inquiring about if they can make a payment plan instead of just a full payment for a wedding jumpsuit," the designer told Townhall. "In the course of the email, I realized it was a same-sex wedding. I replied to them. I said, ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t do it.’ I also shared my faith with them and said, ‘Hey, I think you guys should reconsider.’ That was the email. That was my response.”
Galbraith explained that she never heard back from the couple after the email exchange. "They didn't respond. I've never spoken to them again after that. It just went public," she said.
Galbraith indicated that she has created designs for homosexual individuals in the past, but she does not offer her services for same-sex weddings due to her deeply held religious convictions.
Civil rights attorney Robert Patillo told Journey Magazine that the U.S. “has 65 years of Jurisprudence on individuals not being able to discriminate in their businesses based on protected classifications.”
He explained that under the interstate commerce clause, a business conducting “public business” cannot deny services based on religious purposes and that this does not violate the First Amendment. Patillo added that he does not believe Galbraith will win her case and advised her to decide whether she wants a public business, as she must “abide by public laws”.
However, Alyssa Dahl, a family law attorney and Regent University Constitutional Law Adjunct professor, disagreed, said that this case is not about discrimination but Galbraith’s belief that “marriage is between a man and a woman.”
Dahl argued that “No one should have to set aside their belief concerning what marriage stands for.”
It’s been almost a year since I went public about my fashion brand D. Auxilly being ordered to pay $25,000 by the state of New York for refusing to make a wedding jumpsuit for a same-sex wedding.
— Dominique Galbraith (@domgspeaks) January 6, 2025
I had no money and no lawyer at that time.
BUT GOD!!!!!!!!
After Galbraith told the couple that she could offer her services for their wedding, they posted screenshots of the email exchange on Facebook, according to Business Insider. They pointed out that several of the designer’s clients appeared to have their children in their wedding ceremonies. “I assume she didn’t give them a speech about being a virgin and having children prior to marriage because she clearly designed and created the apparel they sought for their big day,” Lane wrote.
The designer argued that her case is not about discrimination but about a broader effort to compel people to conform to progressive ideology.
America is in complete hypocrisy when it comes to the discrimination issue. You had a designer who refused to make a dress for Melania Trump, and people cheered her on. What’s the difference?
This case is reminiscent of the ongoing legal battle faced by Colorado baker Jack Phillips, who has faced three separate discrimination lawsuits because he refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. One of the cases went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor.
A judge in New York’s Human Rights division ruled against Galbraith in 2023 and ordered her to pay $5,000 to the couple and $20,000 to the state of New York. The ruling required herer to display anti-discrimination signage in her palce of business and go through bias training.
"During the time that I would have had to appeal, I didn't have a lawyer, which is why I ended up missing my deadlines," she told Townhall. "When they took me back to court in May, then I did what I could to find a lawyer."
The designer has had difficulty in finding a lawyer to take up her case, but that appears to have changed, according to a post on X.
With your support we raised $28,000 and I was able to find probably the only lawyer in New York that would represent me!! 😅😅
— Dominique Galbraith (@domgspeaks) January 6, 2025
My case has since gone back to court and I’m currently waiting for the decision.
Can’t wait to share the full testimony!!!!
Stay tuned!!!!!!!
Galbraith's ethnicity has also come up in this situation. As a Black woman, she said "A lot of people, because of my race, think that I should be sympathetic to the LGBTQ community beause I'm supposed to, quote, 'understand what discrimination feels like,' and I'm like 'I don't think we should be comparing what Black Americans have gone through to what the LGBTQ community has gone through."
She further noted that most of the opposition she has faced comes from Black intellectuals rather than everyday Black folks.
The vast majority of the Black people that I know are not down with the foolishness. But online, I can honestly say the response has been 50/50. And the majority of the Black people who came against me—it’s more so the ones who went to college, the ones in corporate America.
Currently, the designer is waiting on a decision from the judge about enforcing the ruling. "The judge was supposed to send it to another court, but she hasn't done that, so we're still waiting on a judgment," she explained.
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