In today’s society, people are constantly victims of discrimination, whether it be because of their race or gender. However, one case in particular has garnered attention on how people in the LGBTQ community are being unfairly treated. The case is known as “Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,” which will play out in the Supreme Court next year. The New York Times wrote an article on this case entitled “Justices to Hear Case on Religious Objections to Same-Sex Marriage.” The case came about when David Mullins and Charlie Craig went to “Masterpiece Cakeshop” owned by Jack Phillips, wanting Phillips to bake a cake for their wedding in Massachusetts. Phillips refused to bake their cake because he does not support same-sex marriage.
This has caused outrage among the LGBTQ community. Zeke Abdule, a member of GLASA who works with the LGBTQ community, made it clear, “As we move forward the LGBTQ community is expanding and society has become more accepting towards this community, however Phillips’s treatment of this same-sex couple is unacceptable. But, he is allowed to do what he wants.”
And, Abdule is right. People in the LGBTQ community have gotten more rights over the years from same-sex marriage to having transgender members be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice. However, based on “the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,” people from the LGBTQ community still don’t have the same rights as heterosexual people.
It’s people, such as Phillips who single out same-sex couples different as compared to couples who are straight. We see that in a Supreme Court brief when New York Times reporter, Adam Liptak, writes about how Phillips’s lawyer makes it clear his faith only allows him to make goods for a marriage between a man and a woman. Phillips doesn’t even bake cakes which have alcohol in them, or for Halloween because he believes his religion forbids it.
It’s Phillips’s way of thinking that seems to frustrate people, such as David Leventhal. Leventhal, a professor at Queens College, makes it clear that, “It is upsetting to see that Jack Phillips is a hero to people who share the same beliefs as him. I tremble at the thought of what damage people like him can do with their way of thinking about our society.”
Leventhal’s concern is appropriate because the brief for this case mentions how Phillips’s lawyer thinks Mullins and Craig could have gotten another wedding cake for their marriage free of charge. It’s as if his lawyer believes this situation is just about this same-sex couple getting a wedding cake for their ceremony. But, it has become more than that. It’s about the emotional damage that has been done for being discriminated against because of their gender preference. It’s about people in the LGBTQ community still fighting for the same rights as straight couples in 2017. But, most of all it’s about love winning in the end and giving same-sex couples the rights they deserved years ago in the first place.
