Colorado Editorial Roundup

A sampling of recent editorials from Colorado newspapers:

The Gazette, March 10, on defending free speech:

Suppose a member of the Westboro Baptist Church walks into a bakery demanding a cake that features the organizations infamous slogan God Hates (Gays). The baker refuses. She will sell the man cake but will not design an obnoxious message.

Most would sympathize with the baker. In a country protected by free speech, no one should be forced to write, say or otherwise depict something the person deems offensive. Free speech means freedom to express what we desire. It also means the government cannot force us to express anything - whether it is popular or unpopular.

We cannot discriminate against a black person or Muslim in a place of business. For that, our country has become an oasis of liberty in an international environment abundant with slavery and discrimination. But a business owner cannot be forced to pledge agreement with or opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Expression is different than the sale of a good, service or commodity. Most newspapers would sell an ad to any religious extremist. Few would produce an ad that denounces a chosen demographic as infidels. We are allowed to discriminate against messages deemed inappropriate.

Though our hypothetical cake shop dilemma depicts an extreme, something similar happened in Colorado recently. Bill Jack of Castle Rock asked three Denver-area bakery owners to create Bible-shaped cakes and adorn each with a scripture opposing homosexuality. The bakers refused, and Jack filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Colorados civil rights statutes forbid discrimination on a basis of creed. Jacks creed involves opposition to homosexual relationships.

Jacks requests for anti-gay expressions came after two men asked the owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop in Lakewood to create a cake celebrating their marriage in another state. The baker, Jack Phillips, politely declined. He offered to sell them cakes and any other products but said his religious convictions precluded him from creating an expression that celebrates same-sex marriage. Whether one disagrees with Phillips should have no bearing on his First Amendment rights to free expression and exercise of religion.

The men complained to the Civil Rights Commission. The commission ordered Phillips to create whatever expressions same-sex couples demand. He must file quarterly compliance reports for the next two years and re-educate his staff that Colorados Anti-Discrimination Act means that artists must endorse all views.

That means pro-choice activists must design cakes that denounce abortion. Pro-life bakers must create expressions celebrating Roe v. Wade. Endless conundrums come to mind.

A person forced by a state commission to endorse or denounce same-sex relationships has no freedom of speech. She has only the obligation to say what the state demands.

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Colorado Editorial Roundup