the red baker which won a partial victory in the US Supreme Court. After refusing to bake a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith, he lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving the rejection of a request for a birthday cake to celebrate gender transition.
The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the cake Autumn Scardina requested from Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop, which was to be pink with blue frosting, is not a form of expression.
It also found that state law that makes it illegal to deny services to people based on protected characteristics such as race, religion, or sexual orientation does not violate the right of business owners to practice or express their religion.
Relying on a Denver judge’s findings in a 2021 trial on the dispute, the appeals court said Phillips’ shop initially agreed to make the cake but later refused after Scardina explained she would use it to celebrate her birthday. transition from male to female. .
«We have concluded that creating a pink cake with blue icing is not inherently expressive and any message or symbolism it provides to an observer would not be attributed to the baker,» the court said, also rejecting Phillips’ procedural arguments.
Phillips, who is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, maintains that the cakes he creates are a form of speech and plans to appeal.
«One doesn’t need to agree with Jack’s views to agree that all Americans should have the freedom to say what they believe, even if the government disagrees with those beliefs,» said ADF’s lead attorney. , Jake Warner, in a statement.
John McHugh, one of the lawyers representing Scardina, said the court carefully considered all the arguments and evidence in the trial.
“They are just opposed to the idea of Ms. Scardina wanting a birthday cake that reflects her status as a transgender woman because they are opposed to the existence of transgender people,” she said of Phillips and her shop.
In 2018, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had acted with an anti-religious bias in enforcing anti-discrimination law against Phillips after he refused to bake a cake to celebrate Charlie’s wedding Craig and Dave Mullins in 2012. The judges called the commission unfairly dismissive of Phillips’ religious beliefs.
The high court then did not rule on the broader issue of whether a company can invoke religious objections to refuse service to LGBTQ people, but it has another chance to do so.
last year was heard another case challenging Colorado anti-discrimination law, Brought to you by a Christian graphic artist who doesn’t want to design same-sex wedding websites. Lorie Smith, who is also represented by ADF, says the law violates her freedom of expression.
Scardina, a lawyer, tried to order her cake on the same day in 2017 that the Supreme Court announced it would hear Phillips’ appeal in the wedding cake case. During the trial, she testified that she wanted to «challenge the veracity» of Phillips’ claims that she would serve LGBTQ customers.
Before filing her lawsuit, Scardina first filed a complaint against Phillips with the state and civil rights commission, which found probable cause that he had discriminated against her.
Phillips then filed a federal lawsuit against Colorado, accusing it of a «crusade to crush him» by filing the complaint.
In March 2019, attorneys for the state and Phillips agreed to drop both cases under a settlement that Scardina was not involved in. She pursued the lawsuit against Phillips and Masterpiece on her behalf.