Christian Wedding Photographer in Louisville Wins Massive Anti-Discrimination Settlement

The city of Louisville, Kentucky, has agreed to pay nearly $1 million in attorneys' fees after a federal judge sided with Christian photographer Chelsey Nelson, who claimed city officials violated her First Amendment rights.

Filed Tuesday, the settlement stipulates the city will pay $800,000 in litigation fees. Nelson's case has been percolating in the courts for several years and centers on her claim that a local anti-discrimination ordinance would force her to photograph same-sex weddings or shutter her business.

She told CBN News in October 2025 she is outspokenly Christian and wanted to "proactively" state on her website her biblically based views on marriage and sexuality. City authorities, she explained, told her that would not be permissible and added she could not even tell prospective clients about what ceremonies she was and was not willing to photograph.