Religion, gay rights clash in case over cake

DENVER — A case that tests the boundaries of religious freedom and gay rights came to the Colorado Court of Appeals on Tuesday, with a suburban Denver baker urging judges not to force him to make cakes for same-sex couples because it would violate his beliefs.

But attorneys representing a gay couple who were denied a wedding cake in 2012 countered that allow- ing businesses to turn away customers through religious exemptions will facilitate future discrimination.

“Religious beliefs do not put the cake shop above the law,” argued Ria Mar, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing the couple. The court will issue a ruling later.

As gay rights has gained greater acceptance in recent years, the Colorado case and others like it in other states have ignited a passionate debate over whether individuals can cite their beliefs as a basis for declining to participate in a same-sex wedding ceremony. In other states, gay couples have prevailed.

At the center of the Colorado case are baker Jack Phillips, owner of Lakewood’s Masterpiece Cakeshop, and Charlie Craig and David Mullins, who were married in Massachusetts and wanted a wedding cake to celebrate in Colorado.

Phillips said he has no problem serving gay people at his store, but he says that making a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding would violate his Christian beliefs.

Craig and Mullins filed a complaint with Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission. In December 2013, a judge for the commission ruled that Phillips discriminated against the couple and ordered him to change his store policy or face fines.

Phillips appealed the ruling.

One of his attorneys said they would consider appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court if they lose at this stage.