Colorado Supreme Court to hear arguments in transgender cake case
The colorado supreme court will hear arguments on tuesday in a lawsuit against a christian baker who refused to make a cake in honor of a gender transitionone of three such cases from the state pitting LGBTQ+ civil rights against First Amendment rights.
Two cases involved baker Jack Phillips, who in 2012 refused to bake a cake for the wedding of a gay couple. Phillips partially prevailed in that case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.
Phillips was later sued by Autumn Scardina, a transgender woman, after Phillips and his bakery in a Denver suburb refused to make a pink cake with blue icing for her birthday, which also celebrated her gender transition.
Scardina, an attorney, said she filed the lawsuit to “challenge the veracity of Phillips’ statements that he would serve LGBTQ+ customers.
That case to be argued before the Colorado Supreme Court concerns the state’s anti-discrimination law against denial of service based on protected characteristics such as race, religion or sexual orientation.
The Colorado Court of Appeals previously sided with Scardinawhich ruled that the cake – which Scardina did not ask for inscription – was not a form of expression.
The appeals court noted that Phillips’ store initially agreed to make the cake but then declined after Scardina explained that she was going to use it to celebrate her gender transition, with the blue exterior and pink interior marking her transition from male to woman reflected.
“We conclude that making a pink cake with blue icing is not inherently expressive and that the message or symbolism it conveys to an observer would not be attributed to the baker,” the three-judge appeals court unanimously ruled. judges in 2023.
The court also ruled that the anti-discrimination law does not violate the right of entrepreneurs to practice or express their religion.
Phillips has maintained that the pies he makes are a form of speech protected under the First Amendment.
Another recent case in Colorado concerns free speech and LGBTQ+ rights. Last summer the The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Colorado graphic artist who didn’t want to design wedding websites for same-sex couples.
Graphic artist Lorie Smith, who like Phillips is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, challenged the same state law. The court’s conservative majority said forcing her to create websites for same-sex weddings would violate her right to free speech.
Both sides in the dispute over Scardina’s cake order believe the new U.S. Supreme Court ruling will strengthen their arguments.