Mary Katherine Ham points out that it is no longer bigotry to refuse to serve people with whom you disagree. Indeed, French fashion designer Sophie Theallet, whose couture First Lady Michelle Obama has worn in the White House, has issued a preemptive statement that she will not dress Melania Trump:
Friday, fashion designer Sophie Theallet, who has dressed the current first lady Michelle Obama, offered a preemptive refusal to hypothetically dress the next first lady, Melania Trump, should she ask for some of her clothes— presumably not the ones available at The Gap. In her unsolicited letter, Theallet informed the world that a person who did not ask for any of her clothes would not be getting them.
“As one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next First Lady,” the letter reads. “The rhetoric of racism, sexism, and xenophobia unleashed by her husband’s presidential campaign are incompatible with the shared values we live by.”
“I encourage my fellow designers to do the same,” it goes on.
In refusing service to Trump, Theallet appealed to “individual freedom” and the idea of her art as an expression of the company’s “artistic and philosophical ideals.” Her announcement was called “noble,” “patriotic,” and “admirable integrity.”
Instead of being heralded as "noble," "patriotic," and possessing "admirable integrity," Baronelle Stutzman, a Baptist florist who said that preparing flowers for a same-sex nuptial reception conflicted with her beliefs, was hauled into court. Ms. Stutzman was perfectly happy to sell the couple flowers from her cooler, but she did not want to participate in any way in the marriage festivities.
Represented by the ACLU, one half of the couple sued Ms. Stutzman. Stutzman's lawyer argued that arranging flowers is an artistic expression protected under the First Amendment. Stutzman was found guilty and liable for damages. During appeal, a judge mocked Ms. Stutzman, 71, from the bench:
Shortly into [Stutzman lawyer Kristen K.] Waggoner’s argument, Justice Steven Gonzalez asked if a new agency of government is needed “to decide which beliefs are sincerely held and which are simply bigotry?”
The question drew some laughs from the audience.
Two New Mexico photographers were also told their wedding pictures didn't meet First Amendment standards when they did not want to provide pictures of a gay wedding.
Memories Pizza was closed after a reporter asked Crystal O'Connor, one of the owners of the small Indiana pizza parlor, if Memories would cater a gay wedding. Ham writes:
Crystal O’Connor politely declined this nonexistent request while making clear the business has no trouble serving gay customers outside a wedding ceremony: “If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no,” she told WBND-TV after Indiana passed a religious freedom bill protecting such objections.
O’Connor’s expression of her own philosophical ideals was met with such negative national attention and aggressive backlash that the family-owned pizzeria closed for more than a week.
Sophie Theallet's empty gesture, delivered to the press even before Mrs. Trump had a chance to ask her for a frock, will meet with no such inconvenience.