Baker Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado has refused to back down on his decision not to make wedding cakes for gay couples despite government punishment.
The baker is waiting for the Supreme Court to decide whether to weigh in on his case, as he’s been locked in a tough legal battle with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission for the past five years. The agency ruled that his cake refusal was in violation of anti-discrimination laws and punished him accordingly.
Phillips said his opposition is based on his biblical view of marriage, with the baker proclaiming that he would similarly reject cakes with “offensive written messages and cakes celebrating events or ideas that violate his beliefs, including cakes celebrating Halloween, anti-American or anti-family themes, atheism, racism, or indecency,” as previously reported.
The baker’s legal battle first touched off in July 2012 when couple Charlie Craig and David Mullins approached him to make a cake for their same-sex ceremony and he “politely declined.” The couple filed a complaint with the state’s civil rights commission and are now represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.
So far, the Supreme Court has delayed making a decision on hearing the case, but it is noteworthy that the justices previously declined to hear a similar case in 2014 involving a New Mexico photographer yet have continued to weigh whether to take up Phillips’ battle
According to his attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal firm, Phillips was forced to engage in “re-educating his staff and filing quarterly ‘compliance’ reports for two years.”
Attorneys for Phillips argue that no American should be forced to use creative or artistic expression if doing so violates his or her conscience, as this baker has claimed it does.
Source: faithwire.com
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