Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-111diff2_e1pf.pdf
Page Number: 5.0

Cite as:  584 U. S. ____ (2018) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 16–111 
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MASTERPIECE CAKESHOP, LTD., ET AL., PETITIONERS 
v. COLORADO CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF 

COLORADO
 

[June 4, 2018]

 JUSTICE KENNEDY delivered the opinion of the Court. 
In  2012  a  same-sex  couple  visited  Masterpiece
Cakeshop,  a  bakery  in  Colorado,  to  make  inquiries  about
ordering  a  cake  for  their  wedding  reception.   The  shop’s
owner told the couple that he would not create a cake for 
their wedding because of his religious opposition to same-
sex marriages—marriages the State of Colorado itself did 
not recognize at that time.  The couple filed a charge with 
the Colorado Civil Rights Commission alleging discrimina-
tion  on  the  basis  of  sexual  orientation  in  violation  of  the 
Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. 

The  Commission  determined  that  the  shop’s  actions 
violated the Act and ruled in the couple’s favor.  The Colo-
rado  state  courts  affirmed  the  ruling  and  its  enforcement
order, and this Court now must decide whether the Com-
mission’s order violated the Constitution. 

The  case  presents  difficult  questions  as  to  the  proper
reconciliation  of  at  least  two  principles.    The  first  is  the 
authority  of  a  State  and  its  governmental  entities  to  pro-
tect the rights and dignity of gay persons who are, or wish 
to be, married but who face discrimination when they seek