Court rules against Colorado bakery in same-sex wedding case
August 17, 2015
Upholding a decision by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a state appellate court has ruled that the owner of a suburban Denver bakery committed discrimination when he declined to bake a wedding cake for a honeymooning homosexual couple from Massachusetts in 2012.
“Masterpiece [Cakeshop] argues that wedding cakes inherently convey a celebratory message about marriage and, therefore, the Commission’s order unconstitutionally compels it to convey a celebratory message about same-sex marriage in conflict with its religious beliefs,” the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled.
“We disagree,” the ruling continued. “We conclude that the Commission’s order merely requires that Masterpiece not discriminate against potential customers in violation of [the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act] and that such conduct, even if compelled by the government, is not sufficiently expressive to warrant First Amendment protections.”
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Further information:
- Court Upholds Order Against Bakery that Refused Wedding Cake For Same-Sex Couple (Religion Clause)
- Court: Baker who refused gay wedding cake can't cite beliefs (AP)
- Full text of decision
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