After Facebook Post Goes Viral, Bakery Decorates Trump Cake
In Louisiana, one girl is holding a Donald Trump-themed 18th birthday party. However, she met an unpleasant surprise when she requested that a bakery produce a “Trump 2016” cake. As McKenzie Gill posted on Facebook:
A spokesperson for the bakery later released an apologetic statement:
We apologize to our customer in Bossier City for the situation regarding the cake that was requested. Our Bakery staff member misunderstood the training provided regarding copyrighted phrases, and incorrectly informed the customer we could not fulfill her request. We would be happy to provide the cake as the customer requested.
Of course, cake baking and decorating has encompassed an inordinate portion of the criticisms against Libertarian Gary Johnson. The nominee supports public accommodation laws which would prevent bakers from discriminating against same-sex couples. This would require prohibition of denying service based on sexual orientation. However, he also maintains that there could be no requirement to decorate items in any particular way. Also notable: just as with the “Nazi cake” fallacy, the Trump supporter above would not be a member of a protected class of any kind.
As some libertarians have pointed out, Johnson’s stance is really neither libertarian nor not. Rather, he is making the best of the status quo. Unless libertarians devise a plan to somehow repeal Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act without receiving massive political backlash, the point is moot and not ideologically consistent.
If laws protect most all groups, but certain people employ “religious freedom” acts to target gay people, this is a far from a libertarian or just solution. Further, the arguments from conservatives too often center on some belief that sexual orientation is worthy of lesser protection than racial identification. Conversely, libertarians oppose public accommodation laws in general based on property and contract rights. If libertarians are to side with particular political groups, they must choose wisely.
Watch Judge Napolitano argue against so-called “religious freedom” acts:
