Because people often get pushed into an opinion on this based on their opinions on gay marriage or transgenderism. An impartial judgment means observing a cake with a message you agree with in the same light as a message you don't agree with. Most people are against vicious slurs, blatant racism, and Nazis, so those are just low hanging fruit hypotheticals.
I disagree. If the colors have artistic meaning tailored to the event the cake is meant to celebrate, it is absolutely speech.
The rest of this post is spot on, but the only distinction I'd make is that gender identity is a federally protected class whereas being a KKK member or Nazi is not. Now, you can (and should) make the argument that the baker is not discriminating based on gender identity, he would be happy to serve the same person a birthday cake, he just does not want to create "something" that he does not support.
Maurice Bessinger argued in Piggy Park that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 "violate[d] his freedom of religion under the First Amendment 'since his religious beliefs compel him to oppose any integration of the races whatever.'" The court's response? "This court refuses to lend credence or support to [Bessinger's] position that he has a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of the Negro race in his business establishments upon the ground that to do so would violate his sacred religious beliefs." Bessinger labeling his BBQ sandwiches as "art" doesn't suddenly make his actions justifiable. Are you alleging that it would be okay if a baker was willing to sell cakes to Black people but not willing to bake wedding cakes for interracial couples?
Some discrimination is more legally protected than others. There's a reason it does not create the same legal outcome to have a sign that says "no Hispanics allowed" as it is to have one that says "no Nazis allowed."
I'm not saying such a baker would be a good person. That would be indicative of a racist baker, but racist doesn't mean illegal. I would say it would be legally okay for a baker to refuse to sell a cake for an interracial wedding that includes expression or design meant to celebrate that wedding. I would say that's a deplorable but legal thing to do, provided that the same baker is willing to serve generic cakes for unspecified occasions to Black people.
Depends on the meaning or lack thereof behind the color red in the cake. The more it resembles artistic expression, I think the more likely it looks like speech.
A sandwich is not the same as a wedding cake in the sense that a wedding cake offers an aesthetic design, perhaps even an image, meant to send a message of some sort. Basically a cake is more like a painting whereas a sandwich is more like a generic good. I'm sure some lawyer out there would argue that a sandwich is like a painting too, but I disagree and you have to draw the line somewhere. I'm a lot more convinced a cake can be artistic expression than a sandwich or a burger.
I would not try to make it something it isn’t. That’s what you’re doing with the topic being discussed and that’s what you’re doing with my comments about it. Feels like you are trying to pull me off in another direction, because what I stated is irrefutable. Comparing the struggle for racial equality with this is simply not an accurate take. End of story.
Sorry, force of habit... but the point is the same. It doesn't have to be a wedding cake, it only has to include expression for an event or occasion that the baker does not support.
Is it, though? I would agree with you that the more ornate and bespoke the cake, the more likely it is artistic expression. It didn't sound to me like the cake at issue here is all that ornate or special. Could there ever be a sandwich that would be special enough to approach that artistic expression line? Maybe. I think we all recognize that it can be hard to figure out exactly where that line is.
He's violating an anti-discrimination law. It's akin to telling Black people to get over the motel that has a whites only sign and just go somewhere else.
I can agree with that. But I also think a specially designed cake with colors and images is much more artistic than any generic sandwich where the only changes are the condiments, choice of bread, vegetables, sauces, etc.
I mean how far do the customizations go? Fine... I'll draw the line at a ketchup smiley face on the bun.
