People For the American Way Foundation will be watching closely as the Supreme Court takes up Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a case where the Religious Right is attempting to turn religious liberty into a license for anti-LGBTQ discrimination. In addition to the friend-of-the-court brief that we cosigned, and the congressional brief that we supported, PFAW Foundation is proud to stand in solidarity with plaintiffs Charlie Craig and Dave Mullins as a member of Open to All. More than 50 organizations, including PFAW Foundation, signed an Open to All statement of principles released in advance of oral arguments on December 5. You can read that statement below and learn more about the case here.
Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, a case that has the potential to shatter longstanding non-discrimination laws. Protecting people from discrimination is part of our country’s promise of equal treatment under the law for everyone. As a nation, we decided decades ago that businesses open to the public should be open to everyone on the same terms, and that no one should be turned away simply because of who they are.
This case isn’t about the cake. It’s about whether businesses can, in effect, post signs reading “we don’t serve your kind here.”
A ruling that our Constitution gives businesses the right to refuse service to customers based on religious beliefs or so-called artistic freedom would be an unprecedented setback for civil rights in our country. It would say there is a constitutional right to discriminate—which could be used not only against LGBTQ people but also against people of color and religious minorities, unmarried couples, single mothers, young people, people with disabilities, and many, many others.
We, the undersigned, are in solidarity with the plaintiffs in this case, Charlie Craig and Dave Mullins, who are simply seeking to be treated like everyone else.