By Aaron Miller-
The U.S Supreme Court delivered a blow to the conventional perception of gay rights when it overruled a previous decision of an earlier court. majority opinion said the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had been biased against Mr Phillips.
The case was first taken to court after a Colorado Christian baker refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, citing religious reasons. The justices concluded by a ratio of 7-2 that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission was unacceptably hostile toward religion in its finding that baker Jack Phillips violated the state’s anti-discrimination law by declining gay couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig in 2012. The state law prohibits businesses from refusing service based on race, sex, marital status or sexual orientation. The Colarado Civil Rights Commission had made its ruling on statutory basis, but the Supreme Court rejected that in a powerful shocking ruling.
Overturning that original ruling, the Supreme Court’s verdict is tantamount to stating that Christian baker’s refusal to bake the cake for the gay couple was not discriminatory, but consistent with the practise of the Christian baker’s religious beliefs. Ending the six year legal battle a six year legal battle, Justice Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court wrote that while Colorado law “can protect gay persons in acquiring products and services… the law must be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion”. Justice Kennedy proceeded to cite a Colorado commissioner’s words during a public hearing. It concluded that:
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“Freedom of religion and religion has been used to justify all kinds of discrimination throughout history, whether it be slavery, whether it be the holocaust. And to me it is one of the most despicable pieces of rhetoric that people can use to use their religion to hurt others.” The Supreme ruling described the language as disparaging of Mr Phillips’ religious beliefs and inappropriate for a commission charged with “fair and neutral enforcement of Colorado’s anti-discrimination law – a law that protects discrimination on the basis of religion as well as sexual orientation”.
The Supreme Court ruling concluded that the commission violated Phillips’ religious rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. Two of the court’s four liberals, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, added their weight to the five conservative justices in the ruling authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy is best known for being the author of the landmark 2015 decision legalizing gay marriage nationwide.Justice Kennedy has also given a number of rulings in the past that has advanced gay rights, making this integrity look solid , whilst in many ways leaving gay right campaigners fearful and concerned that the decision will give rise to more refusals by religious individuals running businesses to snub gay couples who request a service they expect to be granted.
“The commission’s hostility was inconsistent with the First Amendment’s guarantee that our laws be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion,” Kennedy wrote.
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A statement from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, expressed satisfaction with the ruling. He said:
“The First Amendment prohibits governments from discriminating against citizens on the basis of religious beliefs,” Sessions said. “The Supreme Court rightly concluded that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission failed to show tolerance and respect for Mr. Phillips’ religious beliefs. In this case and others, the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously defend the free speech and religious freedom First Amendment rights of all Americans.”
The ruling therefore advances the rights of religious people to decline the consumer requests of gay people on the grounds of religious beliefs, ion the process, forcing gay couples to direct their custom to businesses with more liberal bosses/employees. The judgement is a landmark one, which will cause wider debates and analysis for judges in the U.S and other countries like the UK which have anti-discrimination laws that protect gay individuals.
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