Los Angeles – Equality California, along with Lambda Legal, Family Equality Council and 10 other organizations, yesterday submitted an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. By demonstrating the everyday discrimination being faced by LGBTQ people across the country, the brief urges the court to not support this most recent effort to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals, and to set a precedent to prevent such discrimination from continuing in the future or worsening.
In 2012, David Mullens and Charlie Craig were denied service at Masterpiece Cakeshop because they are a same-sex couple. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission ruled that the bakery had violated Colorado law by refusing service to Mullins and Craig on the basis of their sexual orientation, after which the bakery appealed, asking for a review of the state ruling by the Supreme Court. This case will be heard on December 5.
“This case is a cut and dry example of pure discrimination against LGBTQ people,” said Executive Director of Equality California Rick Zbur. “Religious freedom in this country does not give people or businesses the right to discriminate against customers, and we urge the court to protect the civil rights of individuals of all races, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities or any other aspect of who they are.”
In the brief, the groups outline the importance of nondiscrimination laws in order to prevent anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and how religion and other excuses have often served to justify anti-LGBTQ discrimination in the past. It argues that “when the law excuses discrimination in the name of religion or free speech, it has the cruel effect of abandoning the targets of discrimination to endure the corrosive effects of stigma and injustice without recourse.”
The full amicus brief is available here, and more information about the case can be found here.
The other organizations joining Equality California, Lambda Legal and the Family Equality Council on the amicus brief are: American Federation of Teachers; AFL-CIO; Equality Federation; The LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York; Mazzoni Center; National Center for Transgender Equality; National Education Association; PFLAG National; PROMO; The Trevor Project; and, Whitman-Walker Health.
###
Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org
