The Shadow Constitution

An article in the Wall Street Journal discusses the trouble certain wedding-service businesses are getting into by refusing to work with gay couples due to religious objections. Now it seems pretty cut-and-dry. The right to freedom of expression and religious practice is right there in the First Amendment - and that the 1st Amendment applies to state governments via the 14th amendment has been settled law for nearly a century. So one wonders how could the first amendment's guarantee of religious liberty be trumped by state anti-discrimination laws?

It's the Shadow Constitution at work. It's like a hidden track on an album - the hidden amendment, that pretty much over-rides everything else in the constitution. Since it's hidden, the text is not publicly known, but I'm pretty much it reads something like:

No one may, for any reason, discriminate against anyone in a group which is currently favored by the enlightened members of society.

Thus, the First Amendment, however revered it may be, can't really help these businesses out much. Plus there is the obvious limitation to religious freedom in that it doesn't allow every wacky, over-the-top religious practice that every fringe sect wants to practice. And what could be more fringe-like behavior than discriminating against gays?