Wedding vendors are losing when they stand on conscience and refuse to serve same sex couples.
Recently, Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission ordered baker Jack Phillips to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples’ celebrations despite his objections rooted in his devout Christian faith
Jack Phillips owns Masterpiece Cakeshop in the Denver suburb of Lakewood. In 2012, Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig visited the shop looking to order a cake to celebrate their “marriage,” which had already taken place in Massachusetts. When Mr. Phillips found out the cake was to honor a same-sex marriage, he declined their request, saying that providing the cake for such a celebration would violate his religious beliefs. Mr. Phillips told the men he would bake them any kind of cake other than a wedding cake.
The couple went to the ACLU who filed a complaint on their behalf. This led to a process whereby the Colorado Attorney General’s office filed a formal complaint against Jack Phillips which was heard before the Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
Colorado is not one of the states that allows same sex marriage, but state law prohibits businesses from refusing to serve customers based on sexual orientation. Colorado’s civil union law does not provide any kind of religious protections for businesses
The unanimous ruling from the seven-member commission upheld an administrative law judge’s ruling last December that Jack Phillips violated the state’s civil rights law when he refused to make a wedding cake for the gay couple who requested it.
WORLD Magazine reports that the panel issued its decision verbally, ordering Mr. Phillips to “stop discriminating against gay people,” document any customers he refuses to serve, provide “anti-discrimination training” for his staff, and report quarterly for two years. If Phillips refuses to comply he could face fines of $500 per case and up to a year in jail.
But Jack Phillips is standing firm, telling reporters after the ruling. “I will stand by my convictions until somebody shuts me down.”
Phillips said his bakery has been so overwhelmed by supporters eager to buy cookies and brownies that he does not currently make wedding cakes. His attorneys are considering an appeal to the Colorado Court of Appeals.
So far this year, Christian-owned businesses have not done well in these discrimination cases. In April, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a Christian wedding photographer fined by the New Mexico’s Human Rights Commission after she declined to shoot a same-sex commitment ceremony. The state’s Supreme Court ruled her refusal was the same as if the wedding were between people of different races. The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries also ruled against a Christian couple, saying they can’t refuse to bake cakes for same-sex weddings. After threats, boycotts, and vandalism, they closed up shop.
When Rome was at the height of her glory, a sect called Christians refused to bow to Caesar. They turned the world upside down.