On June 4, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its long-awaited opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The opinion was a 7-2 victory for the bakery and Jack Phillips, its Christian owner. Read the opinion here.
At issue was whether a Christian-owned bakery could refuse to make wedding cakes for a same-sex marriage, when doing so would violate the owner’s religious beliefs. This was the first case of its type that the Court agreed to hear, but there are many other similar cases “in the pipeline,” some waiting for the Court to decide whether it will accept, some still moving through lower courts. These cases involve florists, photographers, and videographers. In addition to cases involving weddings, other involve Christian businesses called upon to render services related to otherwise promoting homosexuality or same-sex marriages.
The National Legal Foundation was proud to file a brief supporting the baker, Masterpiece Cakeshop Brief , and we were glad for his victory. However, a debate is now raging as to how broad or narrow the decision is, that is, how useful it will be in assuring that the pipeline cases also uphold the rights of Christian businesses generally.
The National Legal Foundation is dedicated to staying in this battle until the rights of Christian businesses and their owners are fully vindicated.