SCOTUS Strikes Again!

I love Chik-Fil-A spicy chicken deluxe sandwiches. My GF refuses to set foot on any Chik-Fil-A property. Different strokes for different folks. She’s the LGBTQ activist and I’m the quiet girl who stands beside her and no longer buys from Chik-Fil-A (eh, my spicy chicken cravings usually came on Sunday’s anyway 🙄).

So as you can imagine, our opinions on the recent news that SCOTUS will be hearing another LGBTQ-related case are quite divergent.

Back in 2018 the Court decided that while a Colorado baker could not refuse to serve LGBTQ clientele, they could refuse to put two brides or two grooms on a cake. I agreed with this ruling and my GF strongly disagrees. In that case, the Court ruled that forcing the baker to create custom cake designs that were contrary to his/her religious views would violate their freedom of religion. I agree. But two gay guys come in to buy some cupcakes and they cannot be refused service. A bakery is a public accommodation.

So, now this new case … A Colorado web developer wants to expand her business into wedding websites but is concerned that she will land on the wrong side of Colorado’s public accommodation law. I think the same logic should apply: Two people come to you for a website, you cannot refuse service because of who they are (gay, straight, bi, black, Muslim, whatever). But if because of your personal beliefs you choose not to offer websites that show happy gay couples, then I don’t feel the law should force you to.

Oh, but what about black couples or biracial couples or minority religious couples? It gets messy, right?

It does, but then, the law is always messy. And in this case, if a baker or a photographer or a website designer decided that they only offered their creative services depicting white Anglo-Saxon protestant artistry, then I would hope that the market would crush them out of business but I would not empower the government to do so.

Your thoughts?

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SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

Until recently I would have been inclined to agree. But I feel the culture wars have created an uneven playing field and the artisan baker who selectively discriminates is more likely to find a market niche than see their business disintegrate 😕 For that reason I think governments have a duty to intervene.

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

@SunshineGirl If the baker discriminates, then absolutely the government should step in. I'm behind that 100%.

But if the baker is willing to sell a cake to anyone, must he offer every kind of artistic design on his cakes? Or can he say he offers these twenty designs. Pick one or go elsewhere?

In that case, the court ruled that the baker must (as a "public accommodation") offer cakes to anyone regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, etc, etc, etc... But the baker can decide for themselves what kind of artistic expression they offer on their cakes.

If they only offered cakes depicting heterosexual couples, I would find that offensive, but that is not discrimination under the law and is an issue for the market to resolve, not the government.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

@sarabee1995 There was a case in the UK where a baker in Northern Ireland was prosecuted for refusing to create a design on a wedding cake for a gay couple (which was admittedly quite horrible looking). After four and a half years of legal process and expenses amounting to more than half a million pounds (the original cost of the cake was just £36.50) the baker was found by the Supreme Court not guilty of discrimination under the 2010 Equality Act. The case was fairly tawdry from all angles. The baker's legal costs were underwritten by an evangelical Christian trust. The plaintiffs were seasoned political activists. The baker claimed his right to freedom of religious expression had been vindicated, which the judgement quite clearly did not do. The government department in turn was criticised for persisting with the prosecution. Their argument was that the baker's actions contradicted the spirit of a major piece of primary legislation (which may have held water against a corporation, but not so much against a private individual). Nobody really won in the end.

Btw, I made my own wedding cake. So many dietary considerations had to be taken into account that I felt it was simpler just to do my own thing 😅

sarabee1995 · 26-30, F

@SunshineGirl Bottom line... If you're in business, you cannot turn away customers based on sex, race, etc, etc, etc. But your customers cannot tell you what services to offer.