Should laws establishing same-sex marriage allow caterers, florists, etc. to refuse to participate?

Same-sex marriage advocates often say that legalizing same sex marriage will not affect others. So should the law include exemptions protecting businesses that do not want to participate in such ceremonies? Why or why not?Should laws establishing same-sex marriage allow caterers, florists, etc. to refuse to participate?
No, businesses should not be allowed to do that. That is simply discrimination. They cannot allow businesses to discriminate.



But in reality they could always refuse business because of a different reason that they can just make up.



If you are gay and want to get married, would you really want any company that is against your marriage to participate in your special day?
any Business owner or co has the right to refuse service to anyoneShould laws establishing same-sex marriage allow caterers, florists, etc. to refuse to participate?
You don't need laws for that. Ever seen those signs that say "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone"? They can deny them service now.
No. Businesses don't need such an exemption to refuse service because gay people are not a protected class under civil rights laws.
They already can.



Every business retains the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason.



That is set in stone across the US.
Regardless of same sex laws, a business owner has the right of refusal of services for whatever reason they wish. They don't even need to give a reason.



Federal law does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual preference. Some state laws prevent discrimination of employment based on preference, but I don't think they can legitimately say a company has to provide a service if they don't want to.



Edit: Same-sex marriage advocates TRY to draw a correlation to interracial couples, but that is like trying to say that being gay is like being black, which is utter BS. You can always conceal your sexual preference, you can't conceal the color on your face.



Sexual preference is not protected, period.
Any private-owned business can refuse service to anyone, but my guess is that they will realize it's not a smart business decision. They may miss out on making some BIG bucks. A job is a job. Everybody has choice - that's the beauty of it.
The way a business handles not wanting to make money is to go out of business.



They jack their prices up, or deliver poor service, or they can just say they are booked for that date.



I'm willing to bet not to many of the businesses that cater to weddings would be happy to lose money to their competitors.



The gay community has a significant amount of money and it would be as foolish for business to insult it as it was for business to refuse to sell to Blacks. Just as money from all sources turned out to be equally green, I'm betting that money will turn out to be equally sexless.



Your question is should a business be allowed to refuse service to an orderly, dressed paying customer. The answer to that is no. We should never codify prejudice and give it an legal imprimature.

We don't however have to force religion to participate in it. No priests will have to marry, they don't have to marry anyone now.
It's funny that you choose businesses (florists, caterers,etc.) that have a high incidence of gay ownership.
Why would you want to do business with someone who doesn't want you as a customer.



As a business owner, I could avoid doing work for anyone i chose to.
Businesses can refuse service for any reason. But they are there to make money, not give lessons to lovers. Only churches would be so discriminant as to refuse services. And I hope the legalization of same sex marriage does affect others. They've fought long and hard and faced so much turmoil. I don't understand same sex relations, but I do know how it feels to have my rights swept out from under me for no good reason. So, my answer is no.
If the businesses owner wants to be bias and close minded then let then loose the sale. But really, it would be illegal for them not to make a sale due to the couple preference.But, I would hope that the couple would leave and keep their $ in their pocket.