Jacksonville Law Would Censor Catholic Bookstore

Small businesses have long been part of the fabric of the American economy. Anyone who wishes to use their talents to start a private business and offer goods or services to the public can do so, and many people have even immigrated to the United States with the goal of achieving this dream.

For many small business owners, their company is about more than just turning a profit: it’s about sharing their gifts, talents, and messages with the world. That is the case for Christie DeTrude, the owner of Queen of Angels Catholic Bookstore in Jacksonville, Florida. At Queen of Angels, Christie seeks to provide a welcoming environment for anyone who enters her store. And she seeks to use her bookstore to share the Gospel. Many people come to Queen of Angels to learn more about the Catholic faith, and Christie and her employees gladly help people in understanding it.

In order to provide this space for its surrounding community, Christie has to be able to express messages in line with her Catholic beliefs. The First Amendment protects her right to operate her private business in this way, but a new law is threatening that right.

What is Queen of Angels Catholic Bookstore, and who is Christie DeTrude?

Queen of Angels is a Catholic bookstore located in Jacksonville, Florida. It sells a variety of goods including books, apparel, home décor, jewelry, and rosaries, and each item is deeply connected to the Catholic faith. Queen of Angels maintains a website, blog, and YouTube channel to promote its products and teach others about Catholicism.

In addition to being a Catholic bookstore, Queen of Angels is also a haven for the Jacksonville community. People who are curious about Catholicism can come to ask questions and learn about the faith, and anyone in the store is welcome to gather in prayer with other members of the community. The bookstore serves everyone regardless of who they are and sells anything in the store to anyone.

As its name indicates, Queen of Angels is thoroughly Catholic and tries to promote and live out Catholic beliefs. The bookstore collects customers’ prayer requests, connects interested customers to local churches, hosts events where community members can meet Christian artists and authors, helps people donate devotional items to those who can use them, and engages in daily prayer times consistent with Catholic tradition.

Christie has also created a website, blog, and YouTube channel for the store, which she uses both to promote products and discuss current issues from a Catholic point of view. But a Jacksonville law is threatening Christie’s rights to explain these beliefs on the website and operate her business consistently with the Catholic faith.

Governments at every level in the United States have pushed laws seeking to compel Americans to use pronouns inconsistent with biological reality.

For example, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission now claims that federal law requires businesses to force their employees to use preferred pronouns. Under the guise of stopping discrimination, state laws in New York, Iowa, Colorado, New Jersey, Washington, Vermont, Massachusetts, and California also force businesses to use preferred pronouns. And countless cities and counties across the United State have similar laws.

Like many others, Jacksonville’s law compels businesses to express messages that violate their beliefs, which is why Christie is challenging the law in court.

Queen of Angels Catholic Bookstore v. City of Jacksonville

Queen of Angels has always served all customers, regardless of their sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or any other protected characteristics. Even when people enter the store solely to protest, employees treat them with respect. But employees cannot and will not act in ways that contradict their Catholic beliefs.

Because of their belief that God created everyone either male or female, employees cannot refer to customers with pronouns that are inconsistent with their sex. Instead, the employees use another form of address that does not include gender, such as the customer’s name.

Christie is happy to serve any individuals at Queen of Angels, including those who identify as LGBT. She simply cannot express messages that violate her Catholic beliefs.

Christie believes that many people misunderstand or misrepresent Catholic teaching about marriage, gender, and sexuality. For this reason, she wants to use the store’s website, blog, and YouTube channel to better explain these beliefs. Christie wants to make it clear that even though she will not express messages that violate her beliefs, she would never turn anyone away from her bookstore for holding beliefs that are different than hers.

Sadly, the Jacksonville Human Rights Ordinance compels Queen of Angels to use pronouns that are inconsistent with a person’s sex, which would contradict its Catholic beliefs. In addition, it prevents employees from even explaining Catholic beliefs about marriage, gender, and sexuality, both on the website and in person.

If any Queen of Angels employees defy this law, Jacksonville threatens unlimited fines and damages. This violates their First Amendment rights to speak freely and exercise religion, so Christie filed a lawsuit in February 2023 asking the court to strike down this unconstitutional law.

What’s at stake?

The First Amendment guarantees to all Americans the right to speak freely and exercise religion, and those rights do not disappear when one decides to open a private business. Jacksonville is compelling Queen of Angels to speak inconsistent with Catholic beliefs by promoting the government’s ideology, and it wants to prevent the store from explaining what those beliefs are.

A win for Queen of Angels would ensure the government cannot trample on the First Amendment rights of a private business while claiming to prevent discrimination.

Case timeline

• February 9, 2023: Queen of Angels sent a letter to the city of Jacksonville explaining its religious beliefs, its pronoun policy, and its desire to explain its beliefs on its website. The store asked the city to disavow enforcement of the law but did not receive a response.
• February 22, 2023: Queen of Angels filed a lawsuit against the city of Jacksonville asking the court to strike down the unconstitutional law.

The bottom line

Free speech is for everyone. Americans should be free to say what they believe without fear of government punishment.