RE: Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Round 2
August 21, 2018 at 4:02 pm
(This post was last modified: August 21, 2018 at 4:22 pm by possibletarian.)
(August 21, 2018 at 2:31 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I am curious to know what everyone's opinions are about what the law should be, regarding the whole cake baking thing....
Should it always be illegal for a bakery owner to refuse services for an event/cause he disagrees with? Should it always be legal? Should it depend on which event/cause is being refused? And if so, how to identify which causes can be legally refused and which cannot?
The law is already clear on the issue of gender identity, this is the whole point of what is going on now.
I'm sure both you and I could think up some scenarios that have not been tested yet, but that would not mean that we should withhold judgement on other issues that have already been legally clarified.
If it turns out the message he was asked to convey was full of hate and vitriol, then I'm sure he would have support for his refusal. If it is simply one of love from one person to another and his problem is with the gender of the people involved then it is likely he has broken the (already existing) law.
For instance if you were to walk in and ask for a cake with 'happy birthday to my lovely husband' I'm sure he would happily bake it. If the next day a man walks in and says can you bake a cake for me with the message for my husband ' happy birthday to my lovely husband' and get refused, then how is that any other than discrimination ?
So far as I can tell in the case mentioned in the O.P. the baker had an issue with what the cake symbolised to the customer.
He was asked to bake a cake with pink and blue, the customer said that this was to celebrated the anniversary of becoming transgender.
So far as I can tell he was not asked to inscribe any message on the cake, this makes the refusal even more senseless, I'm sure if for instance they represent a footballs team colours and that was the reason given he would have baked it.
This refusal seemed purely based on what it meant to the customer, there is nothing about a pink and blue cake that could possibly offend.
'Those who ask a lot of questions may seem stupid, but those who don't ask questions stay stupid'
