by Colleen Slevin – The Associated Press
The Colorado baker who won a partial victory in the US Supreme Court after refusing to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, citing that it was not due to her Christian faith, relates to her recent refusal to bake The legal battle lost an appeal on Thursday. Birthday cake to celebrate gender change.
The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the cake that Autumn Scardina requested from Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop, to be pink with blue frosting, is not a form of expression.
It also found that the state law that makes it illegal to deny people services based on protected characteristics such as race, religion, or sexual orientation does not violate business owners’ right to practice or express their religion .
Relying on the findings of a Denver judge in a 2021 trial over that dispute, the appeals court noted that the Phillips store had initially agreed to make the cake, but later refused after Scardina explained that she wanted to use it. To celebrate her birthday, she transitions from male to female.
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The court rejected Phillips’ procedural arguments, saying, “We conclude that baking a pink cake with blue icing is not inherently expressive and that any message or symbolism provided to a supervisor is not attributable to the baker.” Will be ordained.”
Phillips, who is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, says the cakes he makes are a form of speech and plans to appeal.
“You don’t have to agree with Jack’s views that all Americans should have the freedom to say what they believe, even if the government disagrees with those beliefs,” Jake Warner, Phillips’ lead attorney, said in a statement.
John McHugh, one of the attorneys representing Scardina, said the court carefully considered all the arguments and evidence at trial.
“They are just opposed to the idea of Scardina wanting a birthday cake that reflects her status as a transgender woman because Opposition to the existence of transgender people”He said about Philips and his store.
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In 2018, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had a religious-legal right to enforce an anti-discrimination law against Phillips after it refused to make a cake to celebrate the wedding of Charlie Craig and Dave Mullins in 2012. Had worked with opposing bias. The judge found that the commission had unreasonably disregarded Phillips’ religious beliefs.
The high court did not at the time rule on the broader issue of whether a company could invite religious objections to not serving LGBTQ people, but it now has another chance to do so.
Scardina, an attorney, tried to order her cake in 2017 on the same day the Supreme Court announced it would hear Phillips’ appeal of the wedding cake case. During the trial, he testified that he wanted to “challenge the veracity” of Philips’ statements when it says it serves LGBTQ customers at its stores.
Before filing her lawsuit, Scardina first filed a complaint against Phillips with the State and Civil Rights Commission, which found there was probable cause to discriminate against her.
