In the Colorado laws, "creed" refers primarily to religion and distinguishes between what you're referring to here with a religion at large, and a person's beli

In the Colorado laws, "creed" refers primarily to religion and distinguishes between what you're referring to here with a religion at large, and a person's belief system under that religion, which is their creed. In either case, religion itself is also a protected class under federal law. Though this may be tangential. The main defense in this case is one of freedom of speech. If you're interested in this there an immense number of really interesting filings, particularly 'friend of the court' filings on this case. You can read them all here: http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/masterpiece-cakeshop-ltd-v-colorado-civil-rights-commn/ http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/masterpiece-cakes... They are loaded with interesting anecdotes of the implications of a ruling either way, along with precedent. For instance in one famous case an individual in New Hampshire did not want the state motto, live free or die, on their license plate which was a part of the state standardized and controlled design. The courts ruled that free speech protects the freedom to say things as much as the right to not be compelled to say things. The reason that's relevant is that no reasonable person could think that it was the individual themselves saying "live free or die" but nonetheless it was still seen as compelled speech as the individual was being forced by the state to promote a message they disagreed with. So then the natural issue there is that the cake itself is not directly stating anything, again like your rationale on the bible cake verses. But there is court precedent declaring everything from photographs to engravings to stained glass windows to... topless dancing as protected speech under the first amendment. It seems likely that wedding cakes would follow in the same vein. When people spend hundreds of dollars on these cakes, they're implicitly spending most of their money not on the cake, but on the artistic expression of its creator.