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Supreme Court Will Hear Case In Which Colorado Baker Refused To Make Wedding Cake For Same-Sex Couple

By Heather Tooley
Published on: 03:03 PST, Jun 26, 2017

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which a Colorado baker refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. News of this comes after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on the side of LGBT rights by declining to hear the case involving a Denver baker who said it violated his religious beliefs to make would-be customers, Charlie Craig and David Mullins, a wedding cake.

Masterpiece Cakeshop owner, Jack Phillips, refused to make the cake in 2012 and the couple took legal action. They filed a lawsuit with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission; in 2013 the commission ruled in favor of the couple on grounds they were discriminated against by Phillips. It was ordered that the baker change his policy against making wedding cakes for gay individuals or “face fines.”

CNN reports that the case has made it all the way to the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. and will hear Masterpiece v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission in October of this year.

As ABC News reports, the case “asks the high court to balance the religious rights of the baker against the couple’s right to equal treatment under the law.” With the addition of conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, it’s expected to be an intriguing case among the conservative justices. Up to this point, the law has been in favor of Craig and Mullins. Will the Supreme Court take the same stand that Phillips discriminated against the gay couple by refusing to make them a cake for their wedding reception?

Phillips defended his position, telling the Supreme Court he has free speech and religious rights under the First Amendment that should protect him. The baker insisted that he shouldn’t have to make a cake strictly to honor a same-sex marriage, however, the anti-discrimination law in Colorado protects people over their sexual orientation. It wasn’t until 2014 that Colorado allowed same-sex couples to legally marry. Since the Craig and Mullins married in 2012, they had to be married in a state where it was legal, so they planned on holding their nuptials in Massachusetts. They arranged to have their reception in Denver after returning to Colorado.

Whether the Supreme Court rules in favor of the gay couple as the Colorado courts have will make it one of the more interesting cases in Washington.

[Featured Image by David McNew/Getty Images]

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