The Supreme Court Gets Its First Test of Gay Rights Since 2015

When the U.S. Supreme Court reconvenes on Oct. 2, it will begin a term full of potential blockbuster cases. Disputes over partisan gerrymandering, cell phone privacy, and Donald Trump’s travel ban are already on the docket. Showdowns over public-sector union fees, antigay job discrimination, and voter-ID laws might be close behind. Out of all of them, the case that could be the most passionately fought is one that began as a brief discussion about a wedding cake in Colorado and has grown into a Supreme Court clash between free speech and equality.

On one side are Charlie Craig and David Mullins, a couple who visited Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. outside Denver in 2012 only to be told the bakery didn’t make cakes for same-sex weddings. They say equality demands they get the same service as opposite-sex couples. On the other is the bakery’s owner, Jack Phillips, who says he reads the Bible as forbidding same-sex marriage and shouldn’t be forced to go against his religion. Phillips told Craig and Mullins he’d bake them anything but a wedding cake.