Few bakers in America have gotten the kind of attention that Jack Phillips, custom cake creator, has gotten. And while he almost surely wants to be left alone to run his business as he sees fit, he’s not going to shy away from vigorously defending his rights, either.
This week Phillips is back in court again, defending his refusal to bake a custom cake with a pro-gender transition message, which he believes goes against his devout Christian faith.
Phillips, who holds traditional views on marriage and sexuality, is the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado. In 2012, he was sued because he declined to bake a custom cake for a same-sex wedding, which he said went against his beliefs—and as a result, he was accused of unlawful discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
When the Colorado Civil Rights Commission came after him, Phillips wound up taking his case all the way to the Supreme Court—which ruled in his favor, 7-2, in 2018.
“The Supreme Court resoundingly ruled in Phillips’ favor, pointing out that the commission had disparaged Phillips’ religious beliefs,” noted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a statement in 2019 about that case.
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Now, Phillips is being sued again because he won’t bake a cake to celebrate a gender transition.
Here’s how the AP put it in an article about the new case: “Autumn Scardina attempted to order the birthday cake on the same day in 2017 that the high court announced it would hear baker Jack Phillips’ appeal in the wedding cake case. Scardina, an attorney, requested a cake that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside in honor of her gender transition.” The outlet went on, “Her lawsuit is the latest in a series of cases around the U.S. that pit the rights of LGBTQ people against merchants’ religious objections, an issue that remains unsettled by the nation’s top court.”
The outlet then continued, “On Monday, during a virtual trial being conducted by a state judge in Denver, Scardina said Phillips had maintained that, as a Christian, he opposed making the gay couple’s wedding cake because it involved a religious ceremony but would sell any other type of product.”
Phillips’ attorney, Sean Gates, explained that Phillips’ refusal to make the gender transition cake was about its message, which goes against his beliefs. It wasn’t about discrimination against Scardina.
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—By CNJ Staff