It is not often that I learn something from a lawyer, but the Gay-Cake thing clarified something in my mind. The argument was always, "if the baker can refuse to make the cake, then anyone else can deny service" and the Gay Agenda Lobby offered up the image of Jim Crow Laws and 1940's segregation. That is a spurious argument and picture.
The argument against having to decorate a Gay Wedding Cake is "compelled speech." If I'm a poet who sells my talents to create poetry for special events, can a gay compel me to write a gay poem for his wedding? If I'm an artist and have sold engagement and/or wedding paintings, can a gay compel me to paint a gay painting? If I'm a photographer etc., . .
The argument against having to decorate a Gay Wedding Cake is "compelled speech." If I'm a poet who sells my talents to create poetry for special events, can a gay compel me to write a gay poem for his wedding? If I'm an artist and have sold engagement and/or wedding paintings, can a gay compel me to paint a gay painting? If I'm a photographer etc., . .
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Baking a loaf of generic bread, or baking a generic cake is one thing, but demanding the artist to decorate it in a certain fashion is another. That artistic expression is SPEECH. Just as surely as composing music is SPEECH, and I certainly would refuse to write a gay wedding song.
When I was tuning pianos, I was often requested to tune by the Atlanta Gay Men's Choir. I never had any qualms about it, because they really were good and the music they selected and performed was of the highest caliber, they were in fact, "creating beauty." Had they asked me to tune for a Gay Agenda political or cultural event, I would have been conveniently unavailable. Now, looking back, I could argue that a "Gay Choir" is a "Gay Event" but the argument fails, because a Black Choir is not a Black Event, any more than a Women's Choir is a Women's Event.
Let's ask this question, Should the Atlanta Gay Chorus be compelled to perform at an anti-Gay KKK Rally? Don't kid yourself, we are talking about the same thing, the same "compelled speech."
The bottom line is "compelled speech" can I be compelled to speak, (even if that speaking is commercial and artistic) in a manner that is contrary and abhorrent to my own morals and beliefs. The LIBERTY answer is Absolutely NOT.
Baking a loaf of generic bread, or baking a generic cake is one thing, but demanding the artist to decorate it in a certain fashion is another. That artistic expression is SPEECH. Just as surely as composing music is SPEECH, and I certainly would refuse to write a gay wedding song.
When I was tuning pianos, I was often requested to tune by the Atlanta Gay Men's Choir. I never had any qualms about it, because they really were good and the music they selected and performed was of the highest caliber, they were in fact, "creating beauty." Had they asked me to tune for a Gay Agenda political or cultural event, I would have been conveniently unavailable. Now, looking back, I could argue that a "Gay Choir" is a "Gay Event" but the argument fails, because a Black Choir is not a Black Event, any more than a Women's Choir is a Women's Event.
Let's ask this question, Should the Atlanta Gay Chorus be compelled to perform at an anti-Gay KKK Rally? Don't kid yourself, we are talking about the same thing, the same "compelled speech."
The bottom line is "compelled speech" can I be compelled to speak, (even if that speaking is commercial and artistic) in a manner that is contrary and abhorrent to my own morals and beliefs. The LIBERTY answer is Absolutely NOT.
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