Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Anti-LGBTQ Intolerance In “Wedding Cake” Case

June 4, 2018• byMichael Strangeways

At left, Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips; at right, David Mullins and Charlie Craig who filed the original complaint against Phillips for discrimination.

National LGBTQ organizations quickly respond to the disappointing outcome in the Masterpiece Cakeshop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court announced today with the Court ruling against equality. By a vote of 7 to 2, the court ruled in favor of the bakery with Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor the only justices opposing.

Reactions have been swift as national leaders denounce the decision.

Today Mayor Annise Parker, President & CEO of LGBTQ Victory Institute, released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission:

“Today is a sad day for America and especially for LGBTQ youth who have grown up believing in the inevitable move toward fairness and justice for our community. That path toward justice ebbs and flows, and today the Supreme Court led us away from one of the basic tenants of American idealism – that all are treated equally. While the Supreme Court made a narrow ruling focused exclusively on a state agency’s treatment of a Colorado baker, opponents of equality will use it to try and open the floodgates. Homophobic forces will purposefully over-interpret the ruling and challenge existing non-discrimination laws by refusing service to LGBTQ people in even more situations – denying them dinner at a restaurant, lodging at a hotel, or renting an apartment.

“State and local civil rights enforcement offices are now on the frontlines in protecting LGBTQ people from widespread discrimination, so it is critical we pressure elected leaders to fully fund these agencies and ensure they have the resources to push back on attempts at discrimination. LGBTQ elected officials like Colorado State Rep. Leslie Herod have led efforts to build up state and local enforcement agencies, and now we need all elected officials who support equality to prioritize these offices given today’s ruling. Our representatives must respond.”

Mark Snyder, Director of Communciations, Equality Federation:

Today the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case of a baker who refused to serve a same-sex couple in the Masterpiece Cakeshop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case.

While the Court’s narrow, 7-2 decision does not create a new license to discriminate, it also does not address the discrimination that millions of Americans still face. In more than half the country, our state laws do not explicitly protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination in stores and restaurants, in the workplace, or in housing.

Rebecca Isaacs, Executive Director of Equality Federation said, “Some will use this narrow ruling as fuel to divide us, but America is stronger when we work together and remain united for fairness across our differences in race, faith, and types of families. It is critical that we continue to fight discrimination. Full equality is our mission and that is what Equality Federation and our member organizations in every state will continue to achieve one step at a time.”

National LGBTQ Task Force: SCOTUS has reminded us that the fight for equality is, sadly, far from over

“Our nation decided more than 50 years ago, that businesses should be open to all, and today this ruling, while narrow, chips away at our right to equity and our value of being a society where no one should be rejected for being Black, Brown, low-income, a woman, or a member of the LGBTQ community,” stated Rea Carey, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force.

On June 4, in the case known as Masterpiece Cakeshop, the United States Supreme Court ruled against the Colorado Civil Rights Commission for not, in the Court’s view, taking a more neutral stance on religious beliefs. While this limited ruling addressed only the actions of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the National LGBTQ Task Force is both concerned that the Court’s action will lead to future cases that may weaken the rights of LGBTQ people. Yet, we also find solace in the fact that in Justice Kennedy’s ruling he reminded everyone that religious objections alone do not grant a right to deny services to others:

“Nevertheless, while those religious and philosophical objections are protected, it is a general rule that such objections do not allow business owners and other actors in the economy and in society to deny protected persons equal access to goods and services under a neutral and generally applicable public accommodations law.” — Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

“This case was never about cake, it’s about whether religion, or speech that has a religious viewpoint, can override longstanding anti-discrimination laws that have been put in place to prohibit the egregious bigotry business owners historically have displayed towards people of color, women, religious minorities, and LGBTQ people,” stated Candace Bond-Theriault, the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Senior Policy Counsel, Reproductive Health, Rights & Justice and author of the Task Force’s Amicus brief.

“At the end of the day, discrimination is wrong and the Supreme Court held up that view,” Carey stated. “Today’s narrow decision, while disappointing, has to do with the specifics of this particular case. The fight for full equality continues, and this reminds us we must always be vigilant.”

The National LGBTQ Task Force works to secure full freedom, justice, equality, and equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. For over forty years, we have been at the forefront of the social justice movement by training thousands of organizers and advocating for change at the federal, state, and local level. www.thetaskforce.org

About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.