Christian Baker Sued Over Transgender Cake After Fighting 7-Year Gay Wedding Battle
Baker Jack Phillips targeted by activists in new 'transphobia' lawsuit
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Shortly after winning a battle over his refusal to make a cake for a gay wedding, a Christian baker is being sued, again, but this time over a transgender cake.
Openly Christian baker Jack Phillips endured a seven-year-long legal battle to finally win his First Amendment case against the Colorado Civil Rights Commission in the US Supreme Court back in 2018.
Phillips was sued by LGBTQ activists for refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding because it conflicted with his religious beliefs about marriage.
Just a few weeks after the court's decision, the same Colorado government agency decided to pursue Phillips a second time because he declined to design a custom cake celebrating a gender transition.
Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit against the state, on behalf of Phillips, and in 2019, the state dismissed most of the charges against him.
Now, he's just been sued in state court, again, because the born-male transgender who requested the gender-transition cake, Autumn Scardina (who also happens to be an attorney), wasn't satisfied with the outcome of the last lawsuit.
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"The individual who requested the gender-transition cake (and who also happens to be an attorney) wasn’t satisfied and decided to sue Jack in state court,” ADF announced in a press release issued Wednesday.
"On June 26, 2017, a local attorney named Autumn Scardina called Masterpiece Cakeshop and requested a custom cake: designed blue on the outside and pink on the inside to celebrate and reflect Scardina’s transition from male to female,” the ADF press release explains.
"The shop declined the request because the message of the cake contradicts Jack’s religious belief that God creates us either male or female.
"When Scardina filed a charge against Jack with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, it took the charge as an excuse to go after Jack again.
"It wasn’t until Jack sued the state for targeting him and ADF uncovered more evidence demonstrating the state’s anti-religious hostility that Colorado officials finally ended their crusade against him.”
Despite the Colorado Civil Rights Division abandoning the case, Scardina was not finished.
The attorney “waited until long after the deadline to appeal that decision passed, and then decided to start over somewhere else,” the organization noted.
"Scardina has now sued Jack again about the same gender-transition cake request—only this time in a different court."
According to the Christian Post, the baker could now be forced to shell out $100,o00 in damages, fines, and attorney’s fees.
"We live in a country where freedom of speech and religious liberty are protected,” ADF argued.
"While we may disagree on certain issues, we should all be free to live and work according to our beliefs.
"Jack Phillips, just like every creative professional, has the right to decline to use his artistic abilities to express messages or celebrate events he disagrees with.”
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“But over the course of Jack’s legal battle, one thing has become abundantly clear: For some, it will never be enough to politely agree to disagree about important issues like the meaning of marriage or whether to celebrate a gender transition,” the ADF’s statement continues.
"It wasn’t enough for Jack to lose 40 percent of his business after Colorado pursued him the first time.
"It wasn’t enough for Jack to have to defend his freedoms all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"And it wasn’t enough for Jack and his family to endure years of harassment and even death threats.”
“For some, it won’t be enough until Masterpiece Cakeshop closes its doors and Jack Phillips is in financial ruin,” ADF added.
"They want Jack, an average American business owner, to pay a hefty price—all because he wants to live according to his faith."
On Thursday, the district court heard oral arguments.
ADF has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
