A Baker Refused to Make a Cake for a Gay Wedding, What a Court Just Ruled Could Have Huge Implications

shutterstock_139893601-913x512By Randy DeSoto. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that a Christian baker must bake cakes for same-sex weddings.

The court affirmed a Colorado Civil Rights Commission ruling that Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood outside of Denver, violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA).

“CADA prohibits places of public accommodations from basing their refusal to serve customers on their sexual orientation, and Masterpiece violated Colorado’s public accommodations law by refusing to create a wedding cake for Craig’s and Mullins’ same-sex wedding celebration,” the court wrote.

Phillips, a devout Christian, did not refuse to serve Charlie Craig and David Mullins when they came in his bakery in July 2012, but informed the men that, because of his beliefs, he would have to decline their wedding cake business. Gay marriage was not legalized in the state until October 2014. He told them he was more than happy to sell them other baked goods.

“Phillips believes that decorating cakes is a form of art, that he can honor God through his artistic talents, and that he would displease God by creating cakes for same-sex marriages,” the court opinion recognized. However, the three-judge panel rejected his religious liberty argument, finding that his refusal to bake a same-sex wedding cake constituted discrimination against the couple based on their sexual orientation. The same-sex couple’s right to not be discriminated against overrides Phillips’ right to the free exercise of religion, according to the court.

“We conclude that the act of same-sex marriage is closely correlated to Craig’s and Mullins’ sexual orientation, and therefore, the [administrative law judge] did not err when he found that Masterpiece’s refusal to create a wedding cake for Craig and Mullins was ‘because of’ their sexual orientation, in violation of CADA,” wrote Judge Taubman. (Read more from “A Baker Refused to Make a Cake for a Gay Wedding, What a Court Just Ruled Could Have Huge Implications” HERE)

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Court Rules Against Colorado Cake Shop in Same-Sex Marriage Case

By Jason Hanna. An appellate court on Thursday ruled against a Colorado bakery owner who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, rejecting among other things his denial that he discriminated against them because they are gay.

The Colorado Court of Appeals decision affirms a commission’s earlier decision that Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood and its owner, Jack Phillips, violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act when he declined to make a cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins’ wedding reception in 2012.

Phillips, a Christian, argued that his refusal to make the cake was based on his religious opposition to the act of same-sex marriage — a position he asserted was constitutionally protected — not based on an opposition to their sexual orientation.

Colorado law prohibits places of public accommodation from refusing to serve people based on sexual orientation. (Read more from this story HERE)

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