MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
And we're joined now by the same-sex couple at the center of Masterpiece Cakeshop versus Colorado Civil Rights Commission. That would be David Mullins and Charlie Craig. Welcome to the program, both of you.
CHARLIE CRAIG: Thanks for having us.
DAVID MULLINS: Yes, thanks for having us.
KELLY: We are glad to have you with us. So this is a big day for you two. Let me ask you both how you feel about today's decision. Charlie, you first.
CRAIG: You know, we woke up this morning and we didn't think that the decision was going to be made, so we were actually really caught off guard. And then to, you know, learn immediately that it was technically a lose, it's really devastating, you know, and it took a lot of processing. But there's a lot of nuance to the decision that we're still figuring out.
KELLY: Charlie, you said that y'all weren't expecting this to come down today. David, how did y'all actually hear the news?
MULLINS: We actually - we were just watching the Supreme Court blog this morning as they were revealing what cases they had issued decisions on and there ours was. My first feeling with it was just overwhelmed, you know? There were a lot of emotions and trying to, you know, process it all at once is pretty difficult.
KELLY: If I may ask, what was the first thing you two said to each other? You're sitting there reading the Supreme Court blog, you see that your case is coming down. When you looked at each other, what did you say?
MULLINS: I don't believe it's a word we can say on National Public Radio.
KELLY: OK, fair enough.
CRAIG: Yeah, this is Charlie. We gave each other a giant hug and said, it's going to be OK no matter what.
KELLY: I'm curious, I know you two were represented by lawyers at the ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, in this. They are painting this as a partial win in the sense that it was a narrow ruling. And in the ACLU's view, this is a win in that the broader principle, that businesses open to the public have to be open to all of the public, that that broader principle was upheld.
MULLINS: Yes, this is Dave again. And the most important thing that we want people to take away from this ruling is that this did not in any way, shape or form invalidate the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. That remains in full force, despite our loss at the Supreme Court today.
CRAIG: I just had something to add that, too. This is Charlie. You know, we've been doing this journey for six years. And along the way, we've heard so many various stories of people and their discrimination. And, you know, I want everyone to know out there that we are not an isolated incident. And I think just the fact that we've really gotten, like, a national dialogue going about civil rights protections has been a win for us.
KELLY: Did you two ever get a wedding cake?
MULLINS: (Laughter) This is Dave. Yes, we did. But, you know, this case was never about whether or not there was another place where we could get a cake. We pursued this case because we believe that LGBT people deserve to receive the same and equal service at a place of business that any other customer would be afforded.
KELLY: David Mullins and Charlie Craig, thanks so much to you both for joining us.
CRAIG: Thank you.
MULLINS: Yes, thank you for your time.
KELLY: And a note that we also invited the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop to speak with us today. He declined. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.