Ok, but is this discrimination based on sexuality only? It doesn't seem so black and white to me because there is a religious objection/religious freedom component to it. This is similar (albeit a much less grave subject) to the Amish who weren't eligible for the draft because they were pacifists religion-wise.
Yes, the "we're all booked" excuse seems like a plausible, but dishonest, out. I suppose another out would be to take the order and then outsource the work to some baker who doesn't have any qualms about the nature of the work.
A gay / straight baker cannot refuse service based on sexuality
A religious baker cannot refuse service based on religion
A gay baker cannot refuse service based on religion
It follows that a religious baker can't refuse service based on sexuality.
Your concientious objecter point is good. I don't really have much of an answer. I suppose that asking a man to kill another man is different to asking a man to bake a cake for another man. And we used to threaten to execute concientious objectors - we did put them in prisons.
Edit: as Eddie Izzard would say - "cake? Or DEATH?"
Yep, being a conscientious objector wasn't enough to get off the hook, thank goodness for volunteer military.
Well, so I think I can comment on the "gay sex, big deal?" question from a deeply Christian religious/believer person's standpoint.
I'm not hardcore into the bible, but I took some bible study on the old testament for the first time this year. We studied Moses and we ran through the "man laying down with another man being detestable to God" passage and the study notes didn't really address it directly other than to say God gave the people sexual purity laws and you gotta pray about it and decide for yourself. As I recall there was also a bit in there about chopping a woman's hands off if she touched a man's junk inappropriately, so yeah, lots to pray about...
Well ok fine, so I get into the discussion group, and the men were much more specific and clear on the topic - the Word said gay sex is abhorrent to God, so there you go, case closed. I can tell you one of the main points they wanted to get across to me was that God doesn't just want your praises, He wants you to OBEY.
So, with that kind of mindset, I can see how deeply screwed a religious baker would be if the law tells them they must do one thing or get sued and God is saying, no, you gotta set yourself apart from that and not participate in or bless that thing.
The men in my discussion group also said that Jesus discussed marriage specifically in the context of man and woman too, although I'm not well-versed in the new testament and I never read that myself. One of the most interesting things I learned was Jesus said that God HATES divorce because of what it does to the family.
You're not supposed to refuse to do business with someone on the basis of your religion (or theirs). However, even though it's illegal, but plenty of people get away with it - "We don't like yer kind in here!"
Getting out of the draft is different, you aren't offering a business to the government.
Yes, the "we're all booked" excuse seems like a plausible, but dishonest, out. I suppose another out would be to take the order and then outsource the work to some baker who doesn't have any qualms about the nature of the work.