Baker headed back to court

Re: “Masterpiece Cakeshop owner sues governor,” Aug. 16 news story.

Your article states that Jack Phillips “reignited” a debate over religious freedoms by filing a lawsuit against the state.

Here’s the sequence of events in the article: 1) a transgender person calls Phillips’ bakery to order a cake to celebrate the anniversary of her gender transition and is denied due to Phillips’ religious beliefs, 2) the transgender person filed a complaint with the Civil Rights Commission, 3) the Commission orders Phillips to compulsory arbitration with the person for resolution, 4) Phillips files a lawsuit against the State.

This sequence indicates that Phillips didn’t “reignite” the debate. It’s clear the transgender person went looking for a fight. All Phillips wants is to be left alone to run his business according to his beliefs protected under the Constitution. Progressives will never be satisfied. What a waste of taxpayer’s money. Karl Burr, Denver

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Perhaps Mr. Phillips missed the part when a local authority granted him a license to offer his services to the public. The license did not include a provision allowing him to extend those services only to those he deemed worthy. His business is precisely that: a place of business. It is not a church. And bigotry shrouded in a religious mantle is no less repugnant. Greg Longphee, Victoria, British Columbia

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Oh, good grief, can’t we just get along? There must be at least 100 bakers in the Denver area, but Autumn Scardina just had to order a cake with a transgender message from cake artist, Jack Phillips. Scardina could have ordered a cake from Phillips, requesting a pink cake with blue icing and Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary on top. That would have been the prudent thing to do if she really wanted a cake from this shop. But it was a major part of her agenda to force Phillips to choose between turning her down or compromising his religious convictions, so she made sure her transgender message evident. Diane Church, Grand Lake