US: Colorado baker who refused to bake same-sex wedding cake launches new appeal
A Colorado baker who lost a court battle after refusing to serve a gay couple has launched another appeal against the ruling.
The couple said Phillips refused to make a cake for them, after he found out they were celebrating their wedding.
Last month, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission upheld a previous finding that it was discriminatory for the Christian baker to refuse to serve a gay couple because of their sexual orientation.
However, Phillips and the Alliance Defending Freedom Fund have launched yet another appeal against the ruling, this week filing with the Colorado Court of Appeals.
The appeal, filed on Wednesday, reads: “Jack conducts his life and his business in accord with his religious beliefs. Because of this, Jack does not create cakes that conflict with those beliefs.
“Among these are cakes celebrating same-sex unions because he holds to the religious conviction that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.”
It argues: “Appellants are protected by the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and by Article II, Section 10 of the Colorado Constitution from being forced to use their artistic talents to design and create expression they disagree with, here in the form of a wedding cake celebrating a same-sex union.
“Appellants are protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article II, Section 4 of the Colorado Constitution from being forced to create a wedding cake celebrating a same-sex union in violation of their deeply held religious belief.”
Phillips previously indicated he would no longer sell wedding cakes at all, following the ruling.
