Much of Masterpiece’s argument depends on the view that Mr. Phillips is an artist and his cakes are his canvas. It frames the issue as follows: “Colorado’s public accommodations law . . . compel[s] Phillips to create expression that violates his sincerely held religious beliefs about marriage,” and thus violates the Free Speech or Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. In weighing this argument, it helps to separate the symbolic speech issue from the compelled speech precedents.

Read the blog post here.