Graduation Year
2017
Date of Submission
4-2017
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Government
Second Department
Legal Studies
Reader 1
George Thomas
Rights Information
© 2017 Victor Lopez
Abstract
In this thesis I argue that First Amendment free speech and exercise claims do not grant religious business owners the ability to bypass statutes that prohibit discrimination on sexual orientation and gender identity grounds in areas of public accommodations. My arguments focus on the constitutional claims made in the case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Furthermore, I determine that Congress can rely on both the Commerce Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment to pass legislation that prohibits discrimination on sexual orientation and gender identity grounds in areas of public accommodations. I argue that despite the Court’s holding in the Civil Rights Cases, Congress can regulate discrimination by private actors, not just state sponsored discrimination, through the Fourteenth Amendment. I analyze the potential avenues religious business owners can use to undermine both state and federal antidiscrimination statutes and have their discriminatory practices legally sanctioned. I conclude by arguing that religious exemptions do not belong in antidiscrimination statutes.
Recommended Citation
Lopez, Victor, "LGBT Civil Rights vs. Religious Freedom: Determining the Constitutionality of Statutes that Prohibit Discrimination on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Grounds in Areas of Public Accommodations" (2017). CMC Senior Theses. 1594.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1594
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
