Written by Don Byrd
An Administrative Law Judge in Colorado says the state’s anti-discrimination laws are clear: businesses engaged in sales to the public may not discriminate against customers on the basis of sexual orientation. Accordingly, a vendor that supplies cakes for weddings for heterosexual couples acted unlawfully by discriminating against a same-sex couple, even if the vendor objected on religious grounds.
Respondents’ refusal to provide a cake for Complainants’ same-sex wedding is distinctly the type of conduct that the Supreme Court has found subject to legitimate regulation. Such discrimination is against the law; it adversely affects the rights of Complainants to be free from discrimination in the marketplace; and the impact upon Respondents is incidental to the state’s legitimate regulation of commercial activity. Respondents therefore have no valid claim that barring them from discriminating against same-sex customers violates their right to free exercise of religion. Conceptually, Respondents’ refusal to serve a same-sex couple due to religious objection to same-sex weddings is no different from refusing to serve a biracial couple because of religious objection to biracial marriage.
The Associated Press reports that the judge did not impose a fine in the case but will face fines for continued violations.
Notably, clergy and houses of worship would almost certainly not be subject to the same nondiscrimination laws because they would not meet the definition of a “place of public accommodation.” Under Colorado law, such places are “businesses that are engaged in sales to the public.”
