Colorado Baker Fights Judge’s Order to Serve Gay Couples

He's got the backing of a conservative Christian group who says the ruling violates the Constitution

  • Share
  • Read Later

Like TIME on Facebook for more breaking news and current events from around the globe!

A conservative Christian organization is challenging a judge’s order that a Colorado bakery can’t refuse to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, saying the ruling violates the shop owner’s constitutional rights.

On Monday, the Alliance Defending Freedom appealed a judge’s ruling last month that the Masterpiece Cakeshop in suburban Denver cannot discriminate against gay couples. The ruling stems from a 2012 incident where a gay couple ordered a cake to celebrate their wedding. A complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union says that the shop’s owner, Jack Phillips, turned the couple away when he found out the cake was celebrating a same-sex marriage.

Kristen Waggoner, an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, says that the judge’s ruling violates Phillips’ constitutional rights. “Forcing Americans to promote ideas against their will undermines our constitutionally protected freedom of expression,” Waggoner said, according to the AP.

[AP]