In Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the Supreme Court issued a narrow, case-specific ruling in favor of a baker who refused to make a cake for a gay couple, but declined to grant businesses a broad right to discriminate.
By functionally punting on the issue, however, the Court’s ruling is sure to be exploited by businesses and individuals who seek to use religious beliefs to excuse discrimination faced by millions of LGBTQ people, including nearly 2 million transgender people, in this country.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, gave the following response:
“The Supreme Court’s ruling today means that we have a long fight ahead of us in achieving equality for transgender people. The ruling itself is based only on this specific case and how it was handled by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. By ruling against the Commission, however, the Court has given a staunch reminder to all advocates for civil rights that we must continue to push back against attempts to undo our fragile progress.
Transgender people continue to face widespread discrimination in everyday life, and the Trump administration has shown a strong hostility to the progress we’ve made in recent years. We stand committed to continuing our work towards equality and resist every attempt to permit any forms of discrimination.”
