Waking up Monday morning probably made your heart sink. News broke that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Masterpiece Cakeshop. The Colorado LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce is disappointed with this decision, and will do everything in our power to ensure this ruling doesn't empower other Colorado businesses to deny services to those with differing beliefs.
With that said, we also want to put the Supreme Court's ruling into context. This ruling will be interpreted by some as a legal means to outright discriminate against classes of population. However, that interpretation is wrong - both morally and legally.
Today's decision, in fact, defends the need for the Colorado Civil Rights Commission (CCRC) to apply a fair and unbiased ruling, particularly when religion is involved. The decision only reverses the CCRC's ruling because of comments made by multiple commissioners that criticized Mr. Phillips' claim to religious beliefs being the motive behind his actions.
This decision does not set a precedent that a business can discriminate based on religion or that religious protections are above civil rights protections. It merely states that the CCRC failed in being unbiased in their review of the case and the subsequent courts didn't recognize or address that. We firmly believe that if the same case made it through the courts with the CCRD weighing in appropriately, the outcome would be different.
We encourage you to use today's decision as a wake-up call. Even though the LGBTQ+ community has made historic strides over the past decade, there is still a lot of hate and discrimination in our world. We must remain vigilant and stand strong. And, given that this is Pride Month, let's celebrate our accomplishments while remembering those who walked our path before us.
We must not let today hold us back, keep us down, or discourage us. We must choose love and compassion and work to eradicate discrimination for all.
The Chamber's mission is to champion the success and economic impact of the LGBTQ+ business community to promote, connect, and advance commerce, diversity and equality for all.
The Colorado LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce has over 200 members representing a diverse community of LGBTQ+ business-owners, employees, and ally organizations.
