The decision comes just days after the Supreme Court weighed in on a similar lawsuit out of Colorado with a narrow ruling that left many legal questions unanswered.
The Arizona decision, however, thoroughly addressed the First Amendment arguments made by local wedding invitation designers who wanted to quash the city's ordinance — and rejected them.
"We recognize that a law allowing Appellants to refuse service to customers based on sexual orientation would constitute 'grave and continuing harm,'" Presiding Judge Lawrence F. Winthrop wrote in the opinion of the court.