Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
The Colorado Court of Appeals in January ruled against Christian baker Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, in a case involving a man pretending to be a woman who sued Phillips for refusing to make a custom “transitioning” cake. The court contended that Phillips violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA).
Phillips has appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Background: Lawyer “Autumn” Scardina filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the same organization that lost to Phillips at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018. Two homosexuals sued him for declining to make a custom cake for a homosexual “wedding” on religious grounds. The high court ruled 7-2 that the commission violated the Free Exercise Clause and was hostile to the baker’s religious views.
Scardina has continued to harass Jack. After the commission dismissed his complaint, he filed a discrimination lawsuit against Phillips. A court in 2021 dismissed Scardina’s “unfair or deceptive trade practices” claim but allowed the discrimination claim. That court ruled against Phillips.
“Turning to the constitutional issues presented, the division concludes that the act of baking a pink cake with blue frosting does not constitute protected speech under the First Amendment,” the court wrote. “Additionally, the division concludes that CADA prohibition against discrimination based on a person’s transgender status does not violate a proprietor’s right to freely exercise or express their religion.”
As I wrote in January, the so-called anti-discrimination law does violate an owner’s right to freely exercise or express his religion if the state mandates that he endorse a message he opposes and forces him to provide services he finds objectionable.
From Phillips’s legal counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom (emphasis added):
In the petition filed in Scardina v. Masterpiece Cakeshop, ADF attorneys explain that “Phillips has been in court over a decade defending his right—and the right of all Americans—to create freely. And he’s faced hostility at nearly every turn. People of faith—like anyone else—should be ‘fully welcome in Colorado’s business community.’ They should not be forced to choose between their faith and their art. Protecting Phillips here will keep Colorado diverse and free for all.”
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