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Court: Baker who refused to make gay wedding cake can't cite beliefs

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This is the type of bullshit I'm tired of seeing on here. Are you American? If so, do you leave your house? Maybe in the backwoods of the deep south would a "No Blacks" sign work. "No Gay Wedding Cakes", ok I'll give you that would garner more support.

I swear this forum wants to act like America is 400 years behind the rest of the world.

Uhhh Segregation wasn't 400 years ago.
 

Scrabble

Member
Because one is for a wedding and one is designed to hurt/intimidate people.

One is a symbol for gay pride and the other is a symbol for hate. Their both distinctions regardless of one being hateful and one being about pride and acceptance. Simplifying someone's religious belief and saying "it's just a cake" is not the right argument to make because obviously the symbol of gay pride doesn't jive with the owner. Just like if I was a bakery, making a cake with a swastika wouldn't jive very well me either. Doesn't mean I wouldn't serve a cake to a white supremacist, just that I wouldn't offer a swastika styled cake. And before someone comes out and says "so you're comparing white supremacy to gay pride" no I'm not. Please try to closely examine and interpret an argument with logic before letting your ideology prevent you from rational discourse.

I don't agree with the business owner's decision, but he's not being discriminatory.

it's discrimination when you refuse service based on who the customer is(excluding criminals or whatever I just know someone is going to be pedantic about this). it's not discrimination if you refuse service for something you don't offer.

the gay couple wanted a wedding cake. the baker sells wedding cakes.

They wanted a specific cake that the owner doesn't wish to provide. That's not discrimination. Again, were he to refuse service to a gay couple for being gay that would be discrimination, but that's not what is happening. He's willing to provide them service, but doesn't offer the the specific service the customer is asking for. Again, if a straight male was refused a gay themed cake would you call that discrimination? He's not denying service to a group of people, he's denying a specific product on account of religious beliefs. Which is allowed under the 1st amendment.
 

NeonBlack

Member
I'm always shocked that something like this goes to court. If I were the gay couple, and some place told me they wouldn't make my gayke, my first reaction would be to go somewhere else. Even if I got a court to order a baker to make it for me, I would just assume it wouldn't be a good quality or that it was tampered with.

Are you saying this as a member of a minority?
 

BamfMeat

Member
I don't agree with the business owner's decision, but he's not being discriminatory.

He's literally denying them a cake based on an immutable part of their being. Pretty sure that's the basis of discrimination.

Are you saying this as a member of a minority?

To be fair, while I think being a minority gives you more sympathy, to give his opinion on the matter doesn't require him to be. However were he to be put in that place, he might feel differently. I am gay and I felt the way he did for a long time - then I had *perceived* discrimination (it was a situation that needed to be clarified and I had a knee-jerk reaction) and I've since changed the way I think about it, completely. It took me to be on the receiving end of the discrimination (or, what appeared to be at first) for me to realize.... It feels really fucking shitty. Like, I had no idea how bad it actually makes you feel. It kind of shocked me awake.
 

Bodacious

Banned
He's literally denying them a cake based on an immutable part of their being. Pretty sure that's the basis of discrimination.

He's refusing to make a certain kind of product no matter who orders it (is the other side of the coin). I already put in my opinion earlier (wedding cakes can't be gay, they're just cakes) but there is an argument on the religious freedom side.
 

Cyan

Banned
One is a symbol for gay pride and the other is a symbol for hate. Their both distinctions regardless of one being hateful and one being about pride and acceptance. Simplifying someone's religious belief and saying "it's just a cake" is not the right argument to make because obviously the symbol of gay pride doesn't jive with the owner. Just like if I was a bakery, making a cake with a swastika wouldn't jive very well me either. Doesn't mean I wouldn't serve a cake to a white supremacist, just that I wouldn't offer a swastika styled cake. And before someone comes out and says "so you're comparing white supremacy to gay pride" no I'm not. Please try to closely examine and interpret an argument with logic before letting your ideology prevent you from rational discourse.

I don't agree with the business owner's decision, but he's not being discriminatory.

But it's not a "gay themed" cake. His policy isn't "no cakes with gay themes like rainbows or whatever amirite" it's "no cakes for gay weddings." In other words, he would sell a cake for a straight wedding but refuse to sell that exact same cake if he knew it was for a gay wedding. How is this not discriminatory?
 

Scrabble

Member
He's literally denying them a cake based on an immutable part of their being. Pretty sure that's the basis of discrimination.



To be fair, while I think being a minority gives you more sympathy, to give his opinion on the matter doesn't require him to be. However were he to be put in that place, he might feel differently. I am gay and I felt the way he did for a long time - then I had *perceived* discrimination (it was a situation that needed to be clarified and I had a knee-jerk reaction) and I've since changed the way I think about it, completely. It took me to be on the receiving end of the discrimination (or, what appeared to be at first) for me to realize.... It feels really fucking shitty. Like, I had no idea how bad it actually makes you feel. It kind of shocked me awake.

He's not denying them service, I'm pretty sure that's the basis for being discriminatory.
 

Monocle

Member
I don't agree with the business owner's decision, but he's not being discriminatory.
What the actual fuck? Are you literally unaware of the definition of discrimination?

He refused to make the cake on the basis that it was for a gay wedding. That was his reason. That was why the cake wasn't made.

He's not denying them service, I'm pretty sure that's the basis for being discriminatory.
What a splendid display of willful obtuseness. You should have been a sophist.
 

Hari Seldon

Member
tumblr_inline_mi7ni0hv6y1qkf6iw.jpg

That cake looks so god damn delicious.
 

Scrabble

Member
What the actual fuck? Are you literally unaware of the definition of discrimination?

He refused to make the cake on the basis that it was for a gay wedding. That was his reason. That was why the cake wasn't made.


What a splendid display of willful obtuseness. You should have been a sophist.

Is the cake pictured in the op not the specific cake the couple asked for?
 
and let the public recognize him for the shithead he is, and put him out of business.

Problem is this doesn't happen. The opposite happens. People actually give him MORE business because they either support it implicitly or would just subconsciously prefer to eat without Black people around.
 

FStubbs

Member
I think it's about belief here, not skin color or genitals you crave.

In this case, the baker says "I'll serve anybody anything except specifically wedding cake to same sex couples."

Would you force a black baker to cook a Confederate flag cake? Make a Muslim baker bake a cake saying "Mohamed was a pedophile"?

Same logic applies.
 
I think it's about belief here, not skin color or genitals you crave.

In this case, the baker says "I'll serve anybody anything except specifically wedding cake to same sex couples."

Would you force a black baker to cook a Confederate flag cake? Make a Muslim baker bake a cake saying "Mohamed was a pedophile"?

Same logic applies.

I'm not sure I would consider this logic.
 
I think it's about belief here, not skin color or genitals you crave.

In this case, the baker says "I'll serve anybody anything except specifically wedding cake to same sex couples."

Would you force a black baker to cook a Confederate flag cake? Make a Muslim baker bake a cake saying "Mohamed was a pedophile"?

Same logic applies.

So he should try and appeal to insecure, closeted bicurious bigots is what you're saying.

Masterpiece Cakeshop: Serving Up Those Genitals You Crave(tm)
 

Scrabble

Member
You've got to be kidding.

No, it isn't. Because if you read the OP/thread title, you would have seen he refused to make the cake. The picture is just artwork to match the story.

The title states "gay wedding cake" with a picture of a cake resembling gay pride. You don't see how that might be misconstrued? Why did you even call it a "gay wedding cake" in the title and then proceed to base your argument around "it's just a cake, there's no distinction to be made"? Sorry I didn't make the connection that the cake in the op was just supposed to be symbolic to the story and not the actual cake in question.
 
I think it's about belief here, not skin color or genitals you crave.

In this case, the baker says "I'll serve anybody anything except specifically wedding cake to same sex couples."

Would you force a black baker to cook a Confederate flag cake? Make a Muslim baker bake a cake saying "Mohamed was a pedophile"?

Same logic applies.

Those examples aren't equivalent because a wedding cake is a wedding cake.
 
I think it's about belief here, not skin color or genitals you crave.

In this case, the baker says "I'll serve anybody anything except specifically wedding cake to same sex couples."

Would you force a black baker to cook a Confederate flag cake? Make a Muslim baker bake a cake saying "Mohamed was a pedophile"?

Same logic applies.

Not sure comparing gay marriage to that is really a valid argument....
 

Arkeband

Banned
The title states "gay wedding cake" with a picture of a cake resembling gay pride. You don't see how that might be misconstrued? Why did you even call it a "gay wedding cake" in the title and then proceed to base your argument around "it's just a cake, there's no distinction to be made"? Sorry I didn't make the connection that the cake in the op was just supposed to be symbolic to the story and not the actual cake in question.

Yeah, how are the readers supposed to be expected to use basic context clues! For all we know this is about two cakes trying to get gay married! That's not natural!
 

Cyan

Banned
I think it's about belief here, not skin color or genitals you crave.

In this case, the baker says "I'll serve anybody anything except specifically wedding cake to same sex couples."

Would you force a black baker to cook a Confederate flag cake? Make a Muslim baker bake a cake saying "Mohamed was a pedophile"?

Same logic applies.

It's sort of odd that people keep suggesting that a wedding cake must be somehow symbolic of beliefs, or represent something larger than itself. A Confederate flag cake would be hugely symbolic. A cake saying "Mohammed was a pedophile" in gilt frosting would be... I mean that's not even a symbol, that's pretty damn direct. A wedding cake, that's just an ordinary wedding cake in every way except that the wedding at which it will be cut by the couple and they'll feed little bits to each other and then everyone gets a slice and its a little dry and isn't it funny how wedding cakes are always a little dry and yes maybe I'd better have another glass of wine... happens to be a gay wedding. So the fuck what? How is that symbolic of anything?

The people saying "it's just a cake" are entirely right. It's just a fucking cake.
 
The title states "gay wedding cake" with a picture of a cake resembling gay pride. You don't see how that might be misconstrued? Why did you even call it a "gay wedding cake" in the title and then proceed to base your argument around "it's just a cake, there's no distinction to be made"? Sorry I didn't make the connection that the cake in the op was just supposed to be symbolic to the story and not the actual cake in question.

Why would it matter if the cake was rainbow as opposed to plain white?
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
I think it's about belief here, not skin color or genitals you crave.

In this case, the baker says "I'll serve anybody anything except specifically wedding cake to same sex couples."

Would you force a black baker to cook a Confederate flag cake? Make a Muslim baker bake a cake saying "Mohamed was a pedophile"?

Same logic applies.

Not really. Since those two are hateful cakes, and a weddingcake is a weddingcake.
 

NeonBlack

Member
To be fair, while I think being a minority gives you more sympathy, to give his opinion on the matter doesn't require him to be. However were he to be put in that place, he might feel differently. I am gay and I felt the way he did for a long time - then I had *perceived* discrimination (it was a situation that needed to be clarified and I had a knee-jerk reaction) and I've since changed the way I think about it, completely. It took me to be on the receiving end of the discrimination (or, what appeared to be at first) for me to realize.... It feels really fucking shitty. Like, I had no idea how bad it actually makes you feel. It kind of shocked me awake.

True but I do think his thoughts on this are based on not knowing what discrimination feels like. Like you said, you and him were of the same mind until you experienced it for yourself. If he is someone along the lines of being a white, straight male (which I assumed from his stance on the subject) I feel his thoughts may be based on the fact that he can go into any store he wants and not deal with discrimination, one store out of millions would be laughable to him. But as gay marriage is just being accepted, your options for wedding materials may be limited. The discrimination has to be stopped somewhere, it may not stop a baker from disliking the cakes he makes but it may allow their kids to go "why is dad so angry? they are just like everyone else."
 

genjiZERO

Member
The thing is, it's really not any of the owner's business what the cake is for. Would he refuse to sell a cake to someone getting remarried on non-biblical grounds? Or a baby shower cake celebrating a child out of wedlock?

And you can't really compare a hate group to a gay wedding.

yeah, sure you can compare them. I'm using it to illustrate an arbitrary line - to describe the slippery slope.

No he doesn't want to make cakes for same sex weddings.

Right which would be clearly impermissible and contradictory to what he's saying.

No. ...well maybe, BUT only if he's in the business of selling hate cakes, but he's not.

There is no practical reason a "gay wedding cake" should be considered a separate product category. It's just a "wedding cake" that happens to be ordered by a gay couple

If a straight heterosexual couple comes in and asks for a "wedding cake" and you sell them one, but refuse when a gay couple comes in and asks for the same service a "wedding cake" to be made. That's discrimination.

If somebody comes in and asks for a hate cake and you don't sell hate cakes to anyone. That's not discrimination when they get denied

But what if someone wanted him to make a KKK themed wedding cake? Can he say no then?

But to be clear, I'm talking about the content of the cake not the clientele,
 
Guys, I know you're saying it's okay to give cakes to the gays here, but riddle me this: if I made a cake shaped like a ham and give it to a Jewish guy, am I really in the bad here, even though Leviticus said "let them eat cake?"
 

Pizoxuat

Junior Member
Baker: I won't make a wedding cake for same sex couples.
Court: Why?
Baker: My deeply-held religious beliefs.
Court: And what beliefs are those?
Baker: .... not telling.
 
So when I see signs where it says "We reserve the rights to refuse service to anyone" in stores - is that illegal? I mean I was not denied any service but I am now curious to see if this sign is actually a violation of the law.
 

Cyan

Banned
But what if someone wanted him to make a KKK themed wedding cake? Can he say no then?

But to be clear, I'm talking about the content of the cake not the clientele,

We're not talking about a "gay themed" cake, we're talking about a wedding cake at all. Nobody is asking this dude to make a cake with two dudes fucking or whatever. The content is identical to a wedding cake for a straight wedding. I don't see how you can draw the conclusion that the clientele doesn't matter, because it's entirely about the clientele. If you're gay, no wedding cake. If you're straight, sure, no problem.
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
Baker: I won't make a wedding cake for same sex couples.
Court: Why?
Baker: My deeply-held religious beliefs.
Court: And what beliefs are those?
Baker: .... not telling.

Just to illustrate how dumb the logic of denying someone a cake based on their sexual preference is:
Baker: I won't make a wedding cake for black couples.
Court: You're guilty of racism.
 

Zoned

Actively hates charity
I don't really have an issue with stupid people giving money to stupid people either. I believe people should be able to do with their money what they choose.

Did you miss the part where this scumbag bakery owner managed to get thousands of dollar on go fund me page for being a fuckin bigot?

HINT - There are shit ton of bigots in the society who would go to any scale to fuck the minorities as long as they can get away with it in the name of religion or race, and as responsible citizens of a first world nation, it is our responsibility to stop this fuckery and help our underrepresented minorities.
 

Cyan

Banned
So when I see signs where it says "We reserve the rights to refuse service to anyone" in stores - is that illegal? I mean I was not denied any service but I am now curious to see if this sign is actually a violation of the law.

The sign itself is perfectly legal. They still can't refuse service to a member of a protected class on the basis of their membership in that class.
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
So when I see signs where it says "We reserve the rights to refuse service to anyone" in stores - is that illegal? I mean I was not denied any service but I am now curious to see if this sign is actually a violation of the law.
You can deny service to people, just not discriminatory. For instance, when a group of guys walks into your shop filled with glassware, you can deny them service and entrance to your store, because of their behavior. You cannot deny a couple of guys service because they're holding hands.
 
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