What about things that are politically contentious, without being classified as hate speech? Should official hate speech be the only thing that justifies refusing to print a message for a customer?

What about an “Oppose Gay Marriage” cake? It’s untenable to legally classify a position roughly half the country (talking…

I think a better analogy would be whether you’d support a baker turning someone down for a request for a cake that says “Ban Gay Marriage” or “I Support Josh Duggar” or something like that. If so, then it has to extend the other way. Otherwise, who is the arbiter for what is appropriate to write on a cake? There are…

But things like threats, imminent lawlessness, fighting words, obscenity, etc., are not considered “speech” in America. They are outside the scoop of the First Amendment. Within the scope of the First Amendment, which racism and bigotry certainly is, content does not matter. The government is not allowed to practice…

It gets complicated. What if someone came into a more liberal bakery and wanted a cake that says, “Gays are going to hell!”. Would it be wrong for them to refuse? I know its not the same thing, but should the bakery be forced to do it?

Fuck the bakers indeed. But the government shouldn’t be getting involved in this.

The ENTIRE point of free speech is that the content doesn’t matter, that everybody has the same right to their opinion.

I agree, and I believe this was the actual issue here. The bakery did not refuse to make the wedding cake, they refused to add writing that they disagreed with since it clashed with the bakers beliefs. The couple insisted that they wanted the writing so the baker offered a full refund.

Right. Essentially, the difference I see between this and the wedding cake fracas we had in the US is that they make wedding cakes. Denying a wedding cake isn’t cool, because it’s just a wedding cake. “Support gay marriage,” for better or worse, is a political message, and more importantly a message they wouldn’t…

What he’s doing is bringing attention to the situation. The result of that attention is that the bakery will be widely known to be bigoted.

It wasn’t for a same-sex wedding though, it was for a cake that said ‘Support Gay Marriage’. I agree that they should have had to make a wedding cake, but being forced to write something that directly conflicts with deeply-held personal beliefs (as stupid as they may be) is a bridge too far.

I'm a huge ally for the lgbtq movement. This is not discrimination. It's tantamount to forced speech. Refusing to bake a wedding cake that looks like any other wedding cake for a gay couple is discrimination. Refusing to decorate a cake with words that one does not agree with is not. There's nothing to indicate that…

As I have said, I agree that a baker should be required to make a “plain cake” and be able to refuse to add a message to the cake they disagree with. I am trying to find the news article, but I believe this case was like that. The baker agreed to make the cake but not write the message the couple wanted, which the…

Yes, but, making a cake that says “Vote No” would not have qualified as hate speech. Doesn’t mean a baker should be forced to write it.

You know what, though? I see a difference between a cake that says “support gay marriage” and a wedding cake that looks like any other wedding cake that just happens to have been ordered by a same-sex couple.

Yes but I think you could make the same argument about any slogan with which they disagree. Unless they are in the business of specializing in cake slogans (which might be possible and that would change everything) then I can see that a small-business bakery could refuse to put a slogan on a cake if they disagree with…

I agree, it would be great if everyone agreed with that viewpoint. My personal preference would be for that to be true as well. But that’s not the case, and you can’t protect the rights of only people you agree with.

I agree with you, however, this boils down to the same thing. You support person 1’s right to discriminate against person 2, due to values person 1 has that are against the values person 2 has.

I would support a business being required to make a “plain” cake with no message on it for everyone, where I would disagree is…

you’re missing the fact that the case is about what was supposed to be written on the cake, not the fact that the customers themselves may have violated the business’ view of Christianity. that’s crucial here.

your problem is that you equate your own personal views (with which I agree) with ALL “fair minded people.” This business did not refuse service because the customers were gay, nor did they refuse to provide a normal wedding cake for a gay marriage. They simply refused to create and provide a text with which they…

Here is the issue I have with this whole thing. Would you force an african american baker to make a lynching cake for a kkk member? How about a jewish baker to make a nazi cake? A pro-choice baker making an aborted fetus cake (10/10 would have a slice) for an anti-choice rally?

If you answer no to either of these, then…