Battle Over Religion, LGBT Rights Not Over Yet

The U.S. Supreme Court June 4 sidestepped the difficult question of whether religious beliefs must give way to state anti-discrimination laws, but the justices may not be able to avoid it for long.

The Colorado commission that found a baker in violation of the state’s anti-discrimination laws for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding showed “clear and impermissible hostility” toward the baker’s religious beliefs, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the 7-2 court in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colo. Civil Rights Comm’n. Its decision therefore cannot stand, the court said.

That fact-based determination is unlikely to ...