The Colorado Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday from a local baker who declined to make a cake celebrating a gender transition and now wants to ensure that he does not have to express messages that violate his Christian beliefs.
Colorado cake artist Jack Phillips is the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, and, as CBN News has reported over the years, he has been dragged to court numerous times because of his biblical convictions. In 2017, Autumn Scardina called Phillips' suburban Denver cake shop requesting a birthday cake that had blue frosting on the outside and was pink inside to celebrate a gender transition.
Jack said he couldn't bake the cake due to his religious convictions.
Scardina, an attorney, took Jack to court over his decision and a Colorado Court of Appeals sided with her, ruling that the cake, which did not have any writing, was not a form of protected speech.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, a non-profit legal group, is asking the Colorado Supreme Court to reconsider the case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Colorado graphic artist Lorie Smith last year when she declined to design wedding websites for same-sex couples because it violated her religious beliefs.
"No artist, like myself and Lorie Smith who is here today, should be forced to create something that promotes a message that violates their beliefs."
ADF client Jack Phillips outside the Colorado Supreme Court today after oral arguments in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Scardina pic.twitter.com/NOds8BwICT
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) June 18, 2024
Colorado law bars discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, gender, and other characteristics, but Smith argued the law violates her federally protected free speech rights.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Smith's favor and the ADF filed a supplemental notice with the Colorado Supreme Court, asking it to apply that ruling and similarly affirm Phillips' free-speech rights in this case.
The ADF claims activists and Colorado officials have misused the same state law that was at issue in 303 Creative to punish Phillips for more than a decade.
"Free speech is for everyone. As the U.S. Supreme Court held in 303 Creative, the government cannot force artists to express messages they don't believe," said ADF Senior Counsel Jake Warner. "In this case, an attorney demanded that Jack create a custom cake that would celebrate and symbolize a transition from male to female. Because that cake admittedly expresses a message, and because Jack cannot express that message for anyone, the government cannot punish Jack for declining to express it."
He continued, "The First Amendment protects that decision. We are urging the court to apply 303 Creative to reverse the appeals court's decision punishing Jack. As the 23 states and free-speech advocates who filed briefs for Jack affirm, you don't have to agree with Jack's views to agree that no one should be compelled to express messages they don't believe."
Since 2012, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop has been targeted nonstop and has continually found himself in court defending his religious beliefs.
In 2018, Phillips won a partial victory at the Supreme Court after refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding because of his religious beliefs.
But Scardina called his bakeshop asking for the gender transition cake and another custom cake, one depicting Satan smoking marijuana, to "correct the errors of [Phillips'] thinking."
"No American should be bullied or banished from the marketplace simply for living and working consistently with their faith," said the ADF in a previous statement. "Opponents of religious freedom want to strip away our freedom to live and work consistently with our deeply held beliefs. And they're going to extreme lengths to punish those—like Jack—who are willing to stand for their faith."
Phillips argues there are larger issues at stake explaining that he's fighting for the rights of all Americans to live according to their consciences "without fear of punishment" by the government.
***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***
Did you know?
God is everywhere—even in the news. That’s why we view every news story through the lens of faith. We are committed to delivering quality independent Christian journalism you can trust. But it takes a lot of hard work, time, and money to do what we do. Help us continue to be a voice for truth in the media by supporting CBN News for as little as $1.
Support CBN News
