Does Freedom Provide a Right to Discriminate? Theoretical Considerations Regarding the Case of the Lodz Printer
The point of departure of the paper is the Polish case of the Catholic printer from Lodz who refused to print a roll-up for a LGBT nongovernmental organisation. As the printer explained, fulfilling the request of the organisation was – in his opinion – in contradiction ‘with the Bible, morality and his own conscience’. Afterwards, the printer was found guilty by the court of unlawful discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. In the paper, the author considers two arguments for the permissibility of a morally motivated refusal of service in the free market. The first argument concerns the market freedom and the second one relates to the freedom of conscience. In the author’s opinion, both arguments are substantially different and require separate consideration. However, the conclusion of the paper is that they both fail to provide a basis for a right to discriminate in the free market.