On the final day of the term, June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of the Colorado baker, Jack Phillips, who refuses to make cakes for same-sex weddings on the basis of his ­religious beliefs. Unfortunately, we are going to have to wait to see if “religious freedom” includes the freedom to discriminate as the case will likely not be argued until late in the next session, which begins in October.

The case has slowly progressed since David Mullins and Charlie Craig sued the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop for ­discrimination when Phillips refused to bake them a wedding cake because of their same-sex status back in 2012. The state courts agreed with the couple, stating Phillips violated Colorado's public ­accommodations law, which prohibits service refusal on the grounds of things like race, sex, marital status, and sexual orientation.

While the legal team for Phillips has more recently argued his refusal is more about not forcing an artist to create art that goes against his personal inspiration, Phillips himself initially stated that his refusal was based on the fact that baking cakes for same-sex weddings was against his religious beliefs. Despite losing the original suit and the appeals to the state, Phillips will still not bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. In fact, Phillips has ­decided that rather than risk having to bake a cake for a same-sex ­wedding, he no ­longer makes wedding cakes 
at all.