Jack Phillips just wants to make cakes. He also wants to serve the Lord faithfully. Unfortunately, left-wing activists have made that nearly impossible as much of his time and energy is fighting left-wing activists in court.
This week, Phillips lost another round after a judge ruled in favor of someone requesting a cake that celebrated a gender transition. His legal team has vowed to file an appeal.
FAITHWIRE: Colorado Baker Jack Phillips Reveals How He Became a Christian in New Interview
The latest court ruling against Phillips – in which Judge A. Bruce Jones ruled in favor of a transgender individual who wanted to create a pink and blue cake that “was a reflection of her transition from male to female.”
The plaintiff is Autumn Scardina, a lawyer, who appears to have singled out Phillips because of previous high-profile court cases he was involved with. This time, however, the focus is on transgendered individuals rather than gay marriage.
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Scardina called Masterpiece Cake Shop and spoke with Phillips’s wife. They requested a custom-designed cake, pink on the inside and blue on the outside, to celebrate a gender transition.
UPDATE: Jack Phillips to appeal Colorado court’s decision punishing him for not designing cake celebrating gender transition
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— Alliance Defending Freedom (@AllianceDefends) June 16, 2021
Phillips, of course, is a Christian and does not believe people can simply change genders. The scientifically accurate position held by Phillips is held because of his strong religious beliefs, and he felt accepting this request would be in conflict with those beliefs.
“The decision was not because of the person who requested it, as Phillips would not create a cake expressing the requested message no matter who asked for it,” wrote the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) in a release today.
Judge Jones ruled against Phillips and explained the decision by downplaying the significance of the cake design, reducing it to simply a “pink and blue birthday cake” rather than a cake specifically designed to transition from one gender to the other.
“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 everyday right to access businesses to buy products, are no longer treated as ‘others,” the judge wrote. “This case is about one such product—a pink and blue birthday cake—and not compelled speech.”
The judge gave little to no concern about the sincerely held beliefs of the Christian baker and the borderline obvious attempt and manufacturing a lawsuit by the plaintiff.
The ADF also denounced the ruling and said these lawsuits are simply a ploy by an “activist” attorney.
“Jack Phillips serves all people but shouldn’t be forced to create custom cakes with messages that violate his conscience,” the statement read. “In this case, an activist attorney demanded Jack create custom cakes in order to ‘test’ Jack and ‘correct the errors of his thinking, and the activist even threatened to sue Jack again if the case is dismissed for any reason,” the ADF continued. They went on to argue that this campaign is a coordinated, larger effort to change laws and isn’t based on actual, systemic discrimination.
“Radical activists and government officials are targeting artists like Jack because they won’t promote messages on marriage and sexuality that violate their core convictions,” the non-profit legal organization explained. “This case and others—including the case of floral artist Barronelle Stutzman, whose petition is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court—represents a disturbing trend: the weaponization of our justice system to ruin those with whom the activists disagree.”
Phillips was first sued back in
The statement from ADF concluded by calling on these activist lawsuits to stop.
“The harassment of people like Jack and Barronelle has been occurring for nearly a decade and must stop. We will appeal this decision and continue to defend the freedom of all Americans to peacefully live and work according to their deeply held beliefs without fear of punishment.”
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