Masterpiece Cakeshop Loses Lawsuit For Refusing to Bake Transgender Cake

When someone starts a bakery making custom cakes, I’m guessing the last thing on their minds is politics.

You have to have a passion for cooking and creating and making people happy with the sugary sweetness of buttercream frosting.

I’m guessing you’re not thinking you’re going to be in and out of court because the LGBTQ community just won’t leave you alone.

Why? Because you’re a Christian conservative who won’t violate your beliefs.

That’s the story of Jack Philips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop.

Masterpiece Cakeshop has been attacked again and this time a Colorado state court has ruled that he violated state anti-discriminatory laws by refusing to bake a cake celebrating a transgender transition.

Pray for Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop in Colorado, who is back in court this week defending his right to decline to design and create cakes celebrating things that are against his strongly-held religious beliefs as a Christian. https://t.co/op1E08hU5O

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) March 26, 2021

According to CBSN Denver:

In Tuesday’s ruling, Denver District Judge A. Bruce Jones said Autumn Scardina was denied a cake that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside to celebrate her gender transition on her birthday because of her transgender status in violation of the law. While Jack Phillips said he could not make the cake because of its message, Jones said the case was about a refusal to sell a product, not compelled speech.

He pointed out that Phillips testified during a trial in March that he did not think someone could change their gender and he would not celebrate “somebody who thinks that they can.”

“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,‘” Jones wrote.

The group representing Phillips, Alliance Defending Freedom, said Wednesday that it would appeal the ruling, which ordered him to pay a $500 fine. The maximum fine for each violation of Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act is $500. But it was not clear from the ruling if the fine was for the two attempts that Scardina made to order the cake or just one.

This is not the first time Phillips has had to stand up for his religious rights. In 2018, Phillips won a victory in the Supreme court which ruled in his favor when he was sued by a gay couple for refusing to bake them a wedding cake.

https://twitter.com/charlescwcooke/status/1405254620927119365

Would they force a Muslim Bakery owner to do the same thing?

— Duval County Resident (@matthewwerth) June 16, 2021

Meanwhile musicians are applauded when they say they don’t want a recording of their publicly released music played at a Republican event, as if anyone who heard “Born in the USA” at a Trump rally would think Old Man Springsteen has come to his senses finally and is onboard

— Blah (@Comicdad113005) June 16, 2021

Seriously Colorado, what on earth has happened to my wonderful state?? Leave this man alone. Just ridiculous. #masterpiececakeshop #again https://t.co/Du56lOHOaa

— Steven Jensen (@1stJensen) June 16, 2021

In an op-ed on First Things, Phillips explains in his own words why he didn’t bake the cake:

Where do we think artistic creativity comes from? Something outside of ourselves? Of course not. It’s water from the fountain of our soul. It comes from that deep-down place inside each of us where our experiences, our understanding, our intuitions, and our deepest beliefs and convictions about life all stir together. Those can’t be separated from each other any more than you can sift out the various ingredients from a cake after it’s baked.

That’s why I say that I’ll serve any person, but I won’t communicate all messages. Serving people is merely about recognizing each individual as a person worthy of respect, made in the image of God. I’m not trying to force any person to see the world the way I do, or to embrace my beliefs about God and the Bible. If you want to reject Jesus and purchase a cupcake, go ahead. I’ll gladly sell you that cupcake, and a cup of coffee to go with it, maybe even engage in a conversation about our differences.

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But asking me to draw on my creativity to communicate a message I believe is wrong? That’s asking me to stop being me. To change my own relationship with the Lord. To deny the deepest convictions of my heart, and pretend I haven’t learned the most difficult lessons of my life, or that they don’t matter. That’s not something any person has the right to ask of another. Or a command any government has the right to force one of its citizens to obey.

Why is this man being forced to violate his personal beliefs?

We all know why.

It’s an agenda, a tactic, a plan to break down the values and morals that form the backbone of this country and to tear it down to its very roots.

It’s a clever plan.

But as long as people like Jack Phillips keep fighting, it won’t succeed.