They could, but they still might get sued.
Under this new regime, even if you don’t know someone is gay and you really are booked up on that date or don’t have the staff to take on a particular project and decline the work, you can be sued for discrimination!
That is what is so perverse about all this. There is ZERO discretion left to the business owner. We are all now slaves.
I am still very curious as to whether any of these anti-freedom gay couples actually got their cake or photographs through this kind of coercion. Have there been any reports on the photographers or bakers who were ordered by the court to provide their services? Were the customers satisfied with the results? Who wants a wedding cake from an evil Christian baker any how? If actually purchased, was the cake thrown in the trash because there was a back-up cake baked by someone who didn’t care about this issue? How about the photographers? Everything in focus and framed well?