The well-known Christian baker, Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cake Shop, was back in court on June 16, 2021 for refusing to make a cake for a person celebrating their gender transition.
Phillips denied a request from Autumn Scardina who wanted the baker to make a cake that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside. Phillips said he wouldn’t make the cake because of the message behind it.
Denver District Judge A. Bruce Jones found Phillips guilty of violating Colorado’s anti-discrimination law. Judges Jones said, “The anti-discrimination laws are intended to ensure that members of our society who have historically been treated unfairly, who have been deprived of even the every-day right to access businesses to buy products, are no longer treated as ‘others.’” The violation will cost the Christian baker a $500 fine.
One of the attorneys representing Scardina said, “This is about a business that is open to the public that simply says to an entire class of people in the community that your identity, who you are, is something that is objectional.”
Alliance Defending Freedom, who according to their website are “the world’s largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life,” will appeal the ruling.
In an article published about Phillips on the Alliance Defending Freedom’s site it says that “Every American should have the freedom to live and work according to their beliefs without fear of government punishment.” Explaining that Phillips serves everyone at his bakery but “what he can’t do is create custom cake art that celebrates events or expresses messages in conflict with his religious beliefs. And now, he is once again being threatened with punishment for exercising this freedom. It is time to leave Jack alone.”