A brief discussion about a wedding cake has grown into a U.S. Supreme Court collision of some of the nation’s most cherished values.
In a dispute that pits free speech and religious rights against equality, the justices on Tuesday will consider the case of a Colorado baker who refuses to make cakes for same-sex weddings.
The hour-long argument will mark the first full-scale test of gay rights since the court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015. For supporters, the case threatens to undercut the "equal dignity" the court promised same-sex couples in that decision.
"This is about us being denied service at a public business because of who we are and who we love," said David Mullins, who triggered the legal fight when he and his husband, Charlie Craig, visited Masterpiece Cakeshop in 2012.
For bakery owner Jack Phillips, the case is about something very different. He says Colorado officials are trying to coerce him into creating a work of art to celebrate an event he believes is forbidden by the Bible. He is pressing free-speech and religious-rights arguments in fighting an order that requires him to either make wedding cakes for gay couples or not make them at all.
"The law is trying to force me to violate my faith," Phillips said.
Florists, Photographers
The case will have its most direct impact on the 22 states that bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by establishments that do business with the public. Lower courts in some of those states have ruled that florists, photographers and building owners must provide the same services for gay weddings as for opposite-sex ceremonies.
More broadly, the case calls on the justices to take sides on a defining issue in the nation’s culture wars. In a testament to the wide public interest in the case, the line to claim one of the public seats for the session started forming Friday, and by Monday morning several dozen people were camped out on the court’s front sidewalk.
The court has received more than 90 outside briefs. A group of businesses, including Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., is backing the couple, while the Trump administration supports Phillips.