A family-owned Christian book store is suing Colorado over the state’s recently-passed law on “gender expression,” which requires citizens to refer to each other using preferred pronouns and titles.

Failure to use an individual’s preferred pronouns or name is now classified as discrimination in the state, which Born Again Used Books’s owners say violates their First and 14th Amendment rights.

To “use pronouns, titles, or any other language contrary to a person’s biological sex” would go against the owners Eric and Sara Smith’s Christian beliefs. But Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), which was amended in May to include discussion of “gender expression,” forces the owners to do just that, or risk cease- and-desist orders, fines, or investigations.

“CADA substantially burdens the Bookstore’s sincerely held religious beliefs by preventing it from formally adopting and communicating policies consistent with its religious views on human sexuality and gender identity, and by preventing its religiously motivated speech,” the lawsuit, which was filed by Alliance Defending Freedom, reads.

“The government has no need or right to force Americans to profess ideological views they oppose. Our pluralistic country is big enough and sturdy enough to allow people of good faith to express different views, even when the government disagrees. The Constitution demands it. And Colorado is better for it.”

Activists say that the law, which is similar to other policies in various states that classify pronoun use under anti-discrimination law, protects transgender people from verbal harm. But ADF maintains that the criminalization of misgendering or “deadnaming” transgender-identifying people is unconstitutional.

The Colorado law also “discriminates based on the content and viewpoint of speech because it prohibits biologically accurate speech affirming that sex is biological and immutable, while permitting biologically inaccurate speech affirming that sex can be changed,” defendants write.

In its suit, ADF cited 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, a 2023 Supreme Court decision that reaffirmed the First Amendment right to speak freely without fear of government punishment. The case revolved around Lorie Smith, owner of 303 Creative, a design studio that creates websites. When Colorado forced Smith to create a wedding website for a same-sex couple, she objected on the grounds that the state could not compel her to “create expressions that defy any of her beliefs for any customer.”