A History of Same Sex Marriage

Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Colorado

The Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Colorado case deals with religious rights in a big way. The freedom to exercise your religion is an important topic because everyone should be able to have that right. A same-sex couple walked into a shop to buy a wedding cake. The owner did not agree with same-sex marriage because of his religious beliefs.

In Colorado, they did not legalize same-sex marriage at that time. A lot of times during the case the owner of the bakery deals with many problems because of his religious beliefs. The decision of the case could also cause problems with people who have religious beliefs. People did not like the owner because they did not agree with his decision to sell the couple the cake. The couple thought that the owner discriminated against them.

History of Homosexuality

In 1924, the first recorded gay rights organization started in Chicago by Henry Gerber and called the Society for Human Rights.

The activist, Harry Hay formed a group called the Mattachine Society in 1950. They formed the society because they wanted there to be support for homosexuals because during that time people were not as accepting of homosexuals as people are now. In April 1952, the American Psychiatric Association named homosexuality a “sociopathic personality disturbance”. On April 27th, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote out a document to prohibit homosexuals from having a job for any governing body. They asserted that homosexuals would cause some problems for people or hurt them possibly.

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The Daughter of Bilitis (DOB), helped bring together some rights that could benefit them out in San Francisco, California. They held meetings because they feared that other people would inflict pain or a lot of hostile actions towards them. In July 1961, Illinois became the earliest in order that could treat homosexuality as illegal and took out some of their charges. On September 11th, 1961, in the United States broadcasted on homosexuality and showed on a station in California. On June 28th, 1969, in New York City the police conducted an attack at the Stonewall Inn. The force of all of peoples objection to homosexuality starts there to be a motion for gay equality for everyone.

In 1969, the newspaper called the “Los Angeles Advocate” and later the name changed to “The Advocate”. “The Advocate” got published by a group who wanted there to be social change called the Personal Rights in Defense and Education (PRIDE). The group first put the publication out as a newsletter. The publication is known as one of the earliest LBGT publication that is still out. On June 28th, 1970, people marched into New York to remember one-year since the riots. They called the occasion the Christopher Street Liberation Day and the first public occasion for gays.

In 1973, the first company that dealt with the law they created and named it the Lambda Legal. The company argued that gays and lesbians should have some equality and treated how everyone else is treated. On January 1st, 1973, in Maryland they legally prohibited same-sex marriages from happening and the first state to do so. On March 26th, 1973, the “Parents and Friends of Gays” met for the first time. In 1982, “PFLAG” spread out through the United States so that everybody could hear about it. On December 15th, 1973, the American Psychiatric Association took homosexuality out of the mental disorder list in the DSM-11 Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders due to a vote of 5,854 to 3,810.

On January 14th, 1975, the bill for gays to have the same opportunities as other people they put out. The Judiciary Committee did think that the bill could be worth going through with. On January 9th, 1978, Harvey Milk became one of the leaders of the city of San Fransisco. Gilbert Baker created a rainbow flag to remember him for being killed. On November 30th, 1993 President Bill Clinton wrote out a policy for people in the military that said that people who came out as gay or lesbian would not be allowed to be in the military. On September 21st, 1996, President Clinton put out a Defense of Marriage Act. That act talked about how same-sex marriage was not allowed. On December 3rd, 1996, Hawaii’s Judge Chang believed that same-sex couples should be able to marry. Hawaii became the first state to allow same-sex marriages and have the same equal rights as any other couples.

On May 17th, 2004, the first same-sex marriage happened in Massachusetts. On May 15th, 2008, The California Supreme Court ruled that in there: Marriage Cases that only opposite sex-couples were allowed to get married and that it would be unconstitutional. On September 20th, 2011, the law that said openly gay and lesbians could not serve in the military they reversed the decision. On May 9th, 2012, Obama had an interview with ABC in which he talked about how he supports homosexuality and became the first president to do that. On April 28th, 2015, The U.S Supreme Court heard some issues on the case about if same-sex marriages should be legal. On June 26th, 2015, in every state same-sex marriages got legalized. Justice Anthony Kennedy had the last vote and it was 5-4 (“LGBT Rights Milestones Fast…”).

Background on Justice Anthony Kennedy

Anthony Kennedy was born July 23rd, 1936, in Sacramento, California. He was a graduate of Harvard Law School and also taught constitutional law. In the mid- 70s, he was selected to be apart of the U.S. Court of Appeals by Ronald Reagan. After that, he eventually became a Supreme Court Justice. He had some conservative views which he was well known for. He was the court’s swing vote for over 30 years on the bench. In June of 2018, he said that he would be retiring.

Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s parents were named Anthony J. Kennedy and Gladys McLeod. His father first was a dock worker in San Francisco and went to college and law school. He wanted to make his own practice as a lawyer and lobbyist in the California Lobbyist. Anthony Kennedy’s mother was in civil affairs. When Kennedy was a kid he had an interest in the government and public service. He was an honor student in high school for most of his years at McClatchy High School in Sacramento, California and graduated in 1954. After high school, he went to Stanford University like his mother. In college, he thrived in constitutional law. He graduated in three years and after went to London School of Economics and graduated in 1961. He served one year in the California Army National Guard.

He passed his bar exam in 1962 and later practice law in San Francisco and Sacramento. In 1963, his father died so Kennedy ended up taking over his law practice. In that same year, he married a woman named Marry Davis and later had three kids together. Kennedy had an interest in education so he became a professor of constitutional law at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law from 1963 to 1988.

When he worked in his private practice he was in the Republican Party as his father. He became a lobbyist in California and there he met Ed Meese who was also a lobbyist and became friends with him. Ed Meese had some affiliation with Ronald Reagan. When Reagan was a governor he helped him in creating Proposition 1. The proposition ended up not working out but Reagan was thankful for his help. Reagan ended up recommending Kennedy to President Gerald R. Ford so that he could get appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Kennedy ended up becoming the youngest in the United States to become a federal appeals court judge at 38. He was apart of the conservative minority and was known for being very calm and keeping the court divided. Other judges respected him. He was apart of many decisions like Colorado v. Evans (1996), and Lawrence v. Texas (2003). In 2015 he voted on the 2010 Affordable Care Act and supported it (“Anthony Kennedy Supreme Court…”).

Background on the Couple

Linley Sanders says Jack Phillips is a man who works at a bake shop in Colorado (2). Lindley Sanders says he refused to sell a wedding cake to the couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig (2). Lindley Sanders says that the bakery that he works for is Masterpiece Cake Shop and he decorates cakes and makes other baked goods at the shop (2). Linley Sanders wrote that he has worked at the shop for 23 years and the shop is in Lakewood. Linley Sanders states that Phillips faith helps him in the shop. According to Linley Sanders, “Phillips says that force him to strip every ounce of his faith out”. Linley Sanders said that Colorados anti-discrimination law would ruin that (3).

Charlie Craig and David Mullins met on December 5th, 2010, at a party in Denver. One of David’s friends had a benefit party. They were both in their 30s and were in engaged in 2011. While they sat on the couch, they decided to get married. Since Craig and Mullins could not get married in Colorado they decided to get married in Provincetown, Massachusetts. In Colorado, they were going to have the reception. The same-sex couple got married in 2012 (“Meet the couple behind…”).

In 2012 Charlie Craig and David Mullins walked into the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado managed by Jack Phillips where they wanted to buy a wedding cake for their celebration. Phillips told them no because of his religious beliefs which only believes in opposite-sex marriages. In Colorado, same-sex marriages were not yet legalized. Phillips told them that they could buy other things from the bakery. They decided to submit something to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission for the Colorado Anti- Discrimination Act (CADA). The act prevents prejudicial acts on anyone stands on their sex. They reviewed the report and found that likely there could be a problem and wanted them to take the case to the commission. The commission wanted them to take it to the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who sided with the couple. The (ALJ) thought that Phillips First Amendment assertion was inadequate. Phillips did not like the message so demanding him to make a cake for them would be overstepping his rights. Phillips had the right to say no because he also had some rights (“Supreme Court of the…”).

Kaitlyn Schallhorn talks about how Phillips lost a lot of customers and a lot of people are acting hostile towards him because of his decision to say no (1). Kaitlyn Schallhorn says that his family receives the same hate. Kaitlyn Schallhorn adds that Phillips makes an effort to try to leave everybody out of all the hate that he gets (“Colorado baker: Death threats…”).

After they sided with the couple they wanted Phillips to change how his shop worked and ran. Jack Phillips wanted the decision to be reversed but the Colorado Supreme Court did not want to be informed about the case. Later on, he ended up trying to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. They ended up hearing the case (“Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado…”).

On December 5th, 2017, the court heard the case and arguments. The court made a decision on June 4th, 2018, which sided with Jack Phillips and a 7-2 ruling. John Roberts, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Anthony Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas all went with Jack Phillips. Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor sided with Charlie Craig and David Mullins. Justice Anthony Kennedy had the last vote. Kennedy had a hard time with the case wrestling with a lot of different layers (“Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado”).

The commission treated Phillips with hatred because of his religion and the disapproval of same-sex marriage. They also thought that Phillips reason did not matter and could not be brought out. Also, they did not agree with him and acted with hatred towards his beliefs. All of the commissioners agreed with each other. Colorado did not act with fairness and was not impartial towards Phillips. The commission might have been against him the entire time (“Supreme Court of the…”).

John Corvino compares another case to Masterpiece Cake Shop called William Jack v. Azucar Bakery. John Corvino says in 2014 a man named William Jack walks into a bakery wanting to buy a cake that goes against gay marriage and wants there to be bible verses. John Corvino talks about how the woman in charge of the bakery told him that should not. John Corvino explains that Marjorie Silva suggested that she could make him another type of cake. John Corvino writes that William Jack ended up going to the commission and they ended up siding with the baker. John Corvino talks about people that supported Jack Phillips are angry because of the decision made by the commission. John Corvino explains that the cases are two totally different cases.

Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer talked about the decision made by the commission and how they did not respect his beliefs. They also talked about the William Jack v. Azucar Bakery case and how different they were. Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito had a different opinion. They talked about how differently the commission treated the different cases. Gorsuch and Alito both talked about how the cases were not different. Clarence Thomas both had some of the same basis. She believed that they should have made the case on how the commission treated Phillips and that he should have been able to use his First Amendment. Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor agreed with Kagan on that the cases were different. They both did not agree with any of the commissioners. They did not see how the commissioners rude words to Phillips could make the court side with Jack Phillips (“Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado”).

Andrew T. Walker talks about how there are many effects to the case and Christians. Questions of if people would be able to stay quiet in this matter. If saying no effects them than it may cause some problems for people. Christians should not listen to other peoples ridicule towards them. People have started to take it personally. The way people think about the case changes because of their many feelings that may not be reliable to decide on any of the claims. Since America has a lot of freedoms there are people who have different attitudes that could be hurtful. Peoples feelings need to be based on facts, not on just their feelings. The way someone does not need to be put in the legal sphere (3). Andrew T. Walker explains that usually, the way people feel inside does not always work out in this matter. We all have to have our own constitutional rights being able to speak our minds.

Andrew T. Walker writes that there are a lot of religions talk about how they use their rights and now there is a lot of discussion on this matter. Anyone who has a different opinion on sexual orientation there causes problems. People are trying to take away the opinions on sexual orientation. They want other people to think the way that they think. Andrew T. Walker writes that they do not want open people do not want Christians to speak their mind. People will put laws in front of Christians and not choose to go with their views. People will use the outcome of the Masterpiece Cake Shop Case to be unfair (4).

Andrew T. Walker said that Christians say what they think about sexuality is true. Many people thought that Christians should not even put their opinion out there (5). Andrew T. Walker explains that there are a lot of hardships to this. Some people in power did not want to even look at their views on the topic. People see Christian views as judgmental and wanted to get rid of it. People should of gotten to know the Christian views and realize that it could be okay. The courts do not know a way to deal with certain laws. In the time ahead people will not know the arguments people will have. Christians might have some problems and other organizations that are affiliated with Christians. Christians wanted Jack Phillips to win the case (5-6).

Emma Platoff explains that the LGBT community wanted cases that may have came up to not be handled in that same way. Two of the positions are saying that they both won. Texas and Colorado both have differences in their laws. Craig and Mullins decided to take legal action against Jack Phillips to have an anti-discrimination law. In Texas, there are no laws like that. If other couples were in the same circumstances and there would be no law that would keep them from getting discriminated against (3). Emma Platoff reports that some of the cities in Texas have laws that are similar. Some people want there to be laws like that. Texas needed to protect people and that it is necessary. People in Texas had different views on the topic. Some of them said that there could never be a statewide law and would never pass. The LGBT laws to protect them always came up, but a lot of people are not a fan of that law (4). Emma Platoff talks about how in 2019, there could be many other cases similar that could come up. In Texas, they had laws that could help religious people to refuse in 2017. The bill called House Bill 385, created to say to the LGBT community wanting to adopt a child to say no (5).

Jeffrey Trissel wrote that in California, a woman named Cathy Miller (the baker) refused to sell cake to a same-sex couple. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) took legal action. In Californias laws, it says that her saying no is okay. The (DFEH) tried to make an urgent request (2). Jeffrey Trissel explains that the cases are different because Cathy Lee said that they would not form a cake for them. Jack Phillips would not even sell them a cake. Cathy Lee recommended that the same-sex couple should go to another bake shop. Cases that deal with the freedom to speak is hard to make decisions for (3).