The Associated Press reports that a Colorado administrative law judge has ordered a Denver-area baker to make a wedding cake for a gay couple's wedding, despite the fact that the baker said that making such a cake would force him to go against his Christian faith.
According to the story, "The American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint against shop owner Jack Phillips with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission last year on behalf of Charlie Craig, 33, and David Mullins, 29. The couple was married in Massachusetts and wanted a wedding cake to celebrate in Colorado.
"Mullins and Craig wanted to buy a cake in July 2012, but when Phillips found out the cake was to celebrate a gay wedding, he turned the couple away, according to the complaint."
Attorney Nicolle Martin, who represented Phillips, said, "He can’t violate his conscience in order to collect a paycheck. If Jack can’t make wedding cakes, he can’t continue to support his family. And in order to make wedding cakes, Jack must violate his belief system. That is a reprehensible choice. It is antithetical to everything America stands for."
“At first blush, it may seem reasonable that a private business should be able to refuse service to anyone it chooses,” Judge Robert N. Spencer wrote in his opinion. “This view, however, fails to take into account the cost to society and the hurt caused to persons who are denied service simply because of who they are.”
According to the story, "The American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint against shop owner Jack Phillips with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission last year on behalf of Charlie Craig, 33, and David Mullins, 29. The couple was married in Massachusetts and wanted a wedding cake to celebrate in Colorado.
"Mullins and Craig wanted to buy a cake in July 2012, but when Phillips found out the cake was to celebrate a gay wedding, he turned the couple away, according to the complaint."
Attorney Nicolle Martin, who represented Phillips, said, "He can’t violate his conscience in order to collect a paycheck. If Jack can’t make wedding cakes, he can’t continue to support his family. And in order to make wedding cakes, Jack must violate his belief system. That is a reprehensible choice. It is antithetical to everything America stands for."
“At first blush, it may seem reasonable that a private business should be able to refuse service to anyone it chooses,” Judge Robert N. Spencer wrote in his opinion. “This view, however, fails to take into account the cost to society and the hurt caused to persons who are denied service simply because of who they are.”
- KC's View:
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Discrimination is discrimination, and one should no more be able to refuse to sell to a gay couple than to an African-American couple. I know there are arguments about religious freedom, but it seems to me that people not be able to use religion as an excuse for intolerance. Besides, would it have killed the bakery to make the cake? The owners weren't be asked to be gay, or to be in a gay marriage, or to witness a gay marriage, or to vote for legislation that would allow gay marriage. They were just being asked to make a cake.
To be honest, when I first thought about this story, I did have a few minutes when I thought that it would've been nice for the gay couple to simply have gone to another bakery, and for the ACLU not to have been involved. It would have been nice, it would have been less confrontational, and everybody would've been happy.
But not really. Because discrimination is wrong, illegal and intolerable. And sometimes, people have to take a stand, and positions have to be maintained.
