HOMOPHOBIA LEGALIZED, OR FREE SPEECH?

On Tuesday, the U. S. Supreme Court began hearing the case of Jack Phillips, a Colorado baker who wouldn’t make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. In early riveting arguments, Justice Anthony Kennedy voiced competing concerns about the case. Kennedy worried that a ruling in favour of Phillips might allow shop owners to put up signs saying “We do not bake cakes for gay weddings.” But Kennedy also said the Colorado Civil Rights Commission seemed “neither tolerant nor respectful of Mr. Phillips’ religious beliefs” when it found his refusal to bake a cake for the gay couple violated the state’s anti- discrimination law. The case pits Phillips’ First Amendment claims of artistic freedom against the anti- discrimination arguments of the Colorado commission, and the two men Phillips turned away in 2012. Other voices: “Artists shouldn’t be forced to express what the government dictates. The commission ordered Jack to celebrate what his faith prohibits or to stop doing the work he loves. The Supreme Court has never compelled artistic expression, and doing so here would lead to less civility, diversity, and freedom for everyone, no matter their views on marriage.” — Kristen Waggoner, the Alliance Defending Freedom who is representing Phillips.

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“The question is whether a shop like Masterpiece Cakeshop can put up a sign in its window saying, ‘ Wedding cakes for heterosexual couples only.’ ” — the American Civil Liberties Union deputy legal director Louise Melling. The ACLU is representing the couple, Charlie Craig and David Mullins.