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Short take: The Wedding Cake Case. How about a grandfather clause?

People visit the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, June 26, 2017, as justices issued their final rulings for the term, in Washington. The high court is letting a limited version of the Trump administration ban on travel from six mostly Muslim countries take effect, a victory for President Donald Trump in the biggest legal controversy of his young presidency. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to take The Wedding Cake Case.

Well, a wedding cake case. The one we all knew was coming after the whole idea of same-sex marriage first gained widespread popular support and then, two years ago today, constitutional protection.

— Supreme Court to take case on Colorado baker who refused to sell wedding cake to gay couple

The Associated Press / sltrib.com

"The Supreme Court is taking on a new clash between gay rights and religion in a case about a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in Colorado.

"The justices said Monday they will consider whether a baker who objects to same-sex marriage on religious grounds can refuse to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. ..."

This may not be the kind of split-the-baby decision a real court would make, but here's my solution.

Pick a date — say, June 26, 2015, the day the court ruled that marriage equality was the law of the land — or maybe set a date in the near future. Maybe the date the SCOTUS ruling comes down in the wedding cake case.

Any baker, photographer, florist, caterer, etc., who can establish that he or she was in business before said date may legally refuse to bake, photograph, decorate, cater to or otherwise participate in a same-sex wedding, on religious grounds or just because they think it is icky. After all, when they decided to take on that line of work, there was no such thing as marriage equality.

Anyone who hangs out their shingle for such services after that date may not be so choosy. Hey, as Super Chicken always used to say, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it.

Those grandfathered out of the need to comply with the 21st century must reserve that right by posting a sign in their establishment and a note on their website. That will undoubtedly attract some customers and repel others. The free market will then determine which businesses survive, thrive or fail.

Given the consistently rising support for marriage equality across the county, it's just a matter of time before the issue becomes, mostly, moot.

By George Pyle: The Salt Lake Tribune