The actor is criticizing a court decision that allows companies to opt out of working with queer people.
“Sopranos” mime Michael Imperioli commented on Instagram about a recent court decision that now allows companies to officially decide not to work with – in this case – queer people. Previously this was not possible due to the anti-discrimination law. Imperioli’s response was to share a statement on social media about the “homophobic and discriminatory” court decision: “I have decided to ban bigots and homophobes who promote ‘Sopranos’, ‘White Lotus’, ‘Goodfellas’ or any movie or to watch a TV series I was in,” he wrote in his Instagram post.
Imperioli: “America is getting dumber by the minute”
Imperioli continues in his post: “Thank you, Supreme Court, for allowing me to discriminate against and exclude those with whom I disagree and oppose. UNITED STATES! USA!” The 57-year-old commented on his own post in the comment column and added: “Hate and ignorance are not a legitimate point of view” and “America is getting dumber by the minute.”
Days earlier, on June 24, Imperioli posted the call to “be strong, fearless and proud”: “Happy Pride 2023” wrote the actor, “and make sure you VOTE so we can get the fanatics out of office.” The actor supports the movement, even if he is not queer himself, but has been married to Victoria Chlebowski since 1995 and is the father of two children.
A US court decision allows companies to discriminate against minorities
As the American Press published, last week the US court granted an exception to an existing law 6:3 in favor of a female designer. This means that the designer — and by extension all companies — can now refuse to “design websites for same-sex weddings,” even though Colorado law “prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, and gender,” among other things.
The judges argued that forcing her to design the websites “would violate the First Amendment right to free speech.”
Supreme Court Justice Against Decision: “A sad day for American constitutional law and for LGBT lives”
One of the judges, Sonia Sotomayor, joined the official backlash, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Her official statement on the exemption law: “Today, for the first time in its history, the Court grants a public company the constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected group.”
She conveys that she sees it as a backward movement: “The LGBT rights movement has made historic strides, and I am proud of the role this court has played in this history of late,” she wrote elsewhere in the dissenting Supreme Court Opinion. “Today, however, we are taking steps backwards…. Today is a sad day for American constitutional law and for the lives of LGBT people.”