Compelling a business, there's a big difference.
The government can't order you, as an individual, to bake someone a cake; but if you're a business discrimination is prohibited.
Engaging in commerce is a regulated activity per our Constitution.
The government can't order you, as an individual, to bake someone a cake; but if you're a business discrimination is prohibited.
Engaging in commerce is a regulated activity per our Constitution.
EDIT: looked it up, they didn't want to bake a cake with bert & ernie and a pro-gay-marriage slogan.
A more sinister version of the same logic is the argument that states weren't discriminating against gay people by not letting them marry someone of the same sex because technically they could go find someone of the opposite sex and be granted a wedding license for a life of misery married to someone who they could literally never be attracted to instead of the person they were attracted to and loved. It's discrimination in either case.
I agree the states and Congress can regulate commerce, but those regulations are still subject to the First Amendment.
The moment you start a business you adapt an additional role to the one you already have ("private person"). In this role you have specific rights and obligations while you're in that role. It's the same reason that a person who is a police officer is allowed to arrest you while on duty (in his role as a police officer), but not when he is off duty (and in his role as a private citizen).