Current Affairs

Baker: No wedding cakes for gays – no wedding cakes for anyone!

Jun 03 2014
Written by Jack Rattenbury

The owner of a bakery in Colorado will no longer sell wedding cakes after losing a lawsuit from a gay couple who were refused service.

David Mullins and Charlie Craig began legal proceedings against Jack Phillips, who owns Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, last year.

Same-sex marriage remains illegal in Colorado, but the couple’s ceremony was held in Massachusetts followed by the reception at their Denver home.

Mr Phillips said selling wedding cakes to gay couples would be against his religious beliefs.

He told CBS 4 Denver: “We would close down the bakery before we would complicate our beliefs.”

Now the bakery has announced that it has stopped making wedding cakes altogether so they will not be “forced to participate” in a same-sex ceremony.

Mr Phillips said in a statement that he was not going to change his policies, even if officials closed the bakery.

On Friday, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission said that it was discriminatory for the baker to refuse service to someone because of their sexual orientation.

David Mullins and Charlie Craig welcomed the ruling and said: “The next time a gay couple wanders in there asking for a wedding cake, they won’t have the experience we had.

“They will have a responsible experience and leave feeling respected.”

Mr Phillips’ attorney has announced that he may appeal the decision.

In the UK, a gay couple were recently refused service by a wedding invitation company because the owner is a Jehovah’s Witness.