SCOTUS Talks Wedding Cakes

The couple, Charlie Craig, left, and David Mullins, say that businesses open to the public should not be allowed to discriminate against gay men and lesbians. (Credit Zach Gibson for The New York Times)

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By now, you probably are aware that the US Supreme Court is currently hearing the "gay wedding cake" case.

It started when Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, was approached by David Mullins and Charlie Craig about baking a cake for their wedding reception. Mr. Phillips turned them down, sighting a religious objection to sending a pro-gay message with the making of the cake. Feeling humiliated, Mr. Mullins and Mr. Craig filed a complaint with Colorado's civil rights commission.
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The basic arguments: Mr. Phillips believes the state should not be allowed to force him to violate his religious beliefs against same sex marriage by stating he must bake a cake for same sex weddings. Mr. Mullins and Mr. Craig are claiming discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. And many are taking this case to be an expansion on the SCOTUS ruling in favor of same sex marriage in 2015. It could be classified as a battle between freedom of religion and discrimination.
While we wait on the case to play out before SCOTUS, I wanted to drop some thoughts on the whole thing. 

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I, personally, believe that a business should be allowed to decide who they want to do business with, just as the customer can choose who they want to do business with. And before someone loses their mind, think it out for a moment.

Let's take any craft you could enjoy. It could be cake making, wood working, painting, sculpture, crafting. Whatever you enjoy. If you do create, you most likely understand what goes into creating these items. You know how you feel about each creation and the people you are creating them for. And you know what you yourself do to make sure your customer or recipient will be in love with the item. Because of the issue at hand, we'll say you are cake maker.

A couple comes in wanting a cake for their wedding. Now, of course, they are going to be purchasing this cake from you. But there is more involved here than the basic transaction taking place of I give you money, you give me huge cake. As a cake maker, your creations are your artwork. And as someone who works with the general public, you feel something for your customers. Folks can say they don't, but they do. These are your people. You want to create something memorable for them. You want their wedding to be perfect, and you want that cake to stand out and wow them and their guests, not just because it makes you look good, but because you actually care about your customers and their wedding.
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Because of this, that wedding cake is going to take a lot of work. You are going to be careful with each and every detail, because each flower and each ribbon and each design needs to be the best you have ever made, the closest thing to perfection you can muster. A lot of love and care goes into that, even if your customer isn't a personal friend. 

Mr. Phillips, center, says that he should not be forced to use his talents to convey a message of support for same-sex marriage. (Credit Zach Gibson for The New York Times)

Now, let's say you really don't agree with gay marriage. A gay couple comes into your shop and wants to order a cake. You really don't want to make the cake, because you don't agree with their relationship for whatever reason. But you have been told by the government that you can't turn them away. You can't tell them you don't agree with their relationship. So you make the cake. The entire time, you are unhappy about it. It is no longer a work of art, it is just a cake you have to make. The cake is probably not going to be the image of perfection. It will probably look great and taste great and your customer may be happy with it. But it will most likely be a "cookie cutter" cake without any extra effort and without the real feeling of love you had in the first cake. You may not feel like really wowing anyone, and so nothing extra is added, no special touches or flair. The cake this couple gets ends up being acceptable, but not what you would normally do. And you may feel detached from the cake.

Is that fair to the couple? The cake they are getting for their wedding isn't going to be to the standard they should be getting. They may or may not notice, because at the end of the day, the baker still needs to look good for themselves and their business. But the couple isn't going to get anything special for their cake, it will just be... a basic wedding cake that looks exactly like it should, maybe not the best effort put into every detail, maybe nothing to really remember. It was there, and that was about it.

If the person making the cake for my wedding wasn't going to be into it with their whole heart and soul, I'd want to know. Because that could give me the option to go to the next baker who would put their entire heart and soul in it, and instead of getting a wedding cake, I got something I'd never forget. I'd get the work of art made with love that I'd want at my wedding, a cake I would still remember clearly on our 50th anniversary.

So while I don't like the idea of discriminating against the couple, I do believe that they should know up front that this baker isn't going to be as into it as they should be. Because once your wedding day rolls around, it's too late to discover your baker didn't have his heart in it. You're stuck with whatever he gives you. And he may give you a nice cake. I'm not saying he's going to give you a crappy cake. But you aren't going to get that special cake.

I am also a big supporter of the idea that the market will decide. Businesses should be allowed to discriminate. If you run a business, it should be up to you who you do business with. If you turn down certain groups, and if the community doesn't agree with that, then the community stops buying from you and your business goes under. If they do agree, they give you their business and you thrive. That's how it should work. The government should not be stepping in to tell people, hey, you have to cater to everyone no matter what. Nobody wins there. The business doesn't win because they either close up shop to avoid it or their work suffers and they never grow, and the customer doesn't win because they don't get the best the business has to offer.
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I have never been shy about the fact that I don't agree with the government telling people who they can and cannot marry, but if they are going to, then same sex couples should be permitted. So I feel for this couple. But because I feel for this couple, I hope the baker wins. The couple should know, like any other couple, if a business doesn't want to work with them, because they should be able to walk out of that business and find someone who does. 

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