“This is not about cake. This is not about art. This is about survival.”
These words came from American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Chase Strangio, describing the future possibilities of so-called “discrimination” against gay people if the Denver-area Christian baker has his way in the Supreme Court.
ABC News reported that both sides of the upcoming Supreme Court case, set to begin on Dec. 5, can agree on one thing: it isn’t about the wedding cake.
On one side, Charlie Craig and David Mullins, the gay couple in the wedding-cake case, believed that they were being openly discriminated against because of who they are. “This case is not about a cake. It’s not about a baker. It’s about us being able to be free to be treated equally in the public realm,” said Craig.
The owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, Jack Phillips, baker obviously disagreed, stating that he’s turned down similar requests before because they “conflicted with his conscience.” At a recent rally for his supporters, Phillips stated:
I don't create custom designs for events or messages that conflict with my conscience. I don't create cakes for Halloween, bachelor or bachelorette parties, and anti-American cakes. I've turned down a cake order for an anti-LGBT message.
Jennifer Pizer, policy director for Lambda Legal, a prominent LGBT-rights group that submitted briefs to the Supreme Court for the case, disagrees.
“This is why nondiscrimination laws like Colorado's are so important," wrote Pizer. "So that people can live their lives without fearing that, at any moment, they may be turned away or verbally abused just for who they are.”
I only wonder how far she is willing to take that “anti-discrimination” argument. If one believes a lifestyle conflicts with their deeply held religious beliefs -- like say, Nazism -- and chooses not to support such a cause through their private business, would the mass outrage still apply?
Stay tuned, America.
(Cover Photo: Ted Eytan)