A gay couple is suing a Colorado baker
over his refusal to sell them a wedding cake.
Last summer, Jack Phillips, owner of
Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, refused to consider
baking a cake for Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig, who married in
Provincetown, Massachusetts and held a reception in Denver.
The American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) filed a complaint on behalf of the couple with the Colorado
Civil Rights Division (CCRD). A CCRD investigation concluded that
Masterpiece Cakeshop broke the law by discriminating against the men.
Last week, the Colorado Attorney General's office filed a formal
complaint. A CCRD hearing is scheduled to take place in September.
“We were all very upset, but I was
angry and I felt dehumanized and mortified,” Mullins told the AP.
The ACLU claims that Masterpiece
Cakeshop has refused a wedding cake for two other gay couples. Both
have submitted written affidavits in the case. According
to one of the couples, Phillips told them he would not provide
cakes for the weddings of gay couples the same way he would not
provide cakes for pedophiles.
Last year, Phillips told CBS affiliate
KCNC-TV that he would rather shutter his shop than bake a wedding
cake for a gay or lesbian couple.
“If it came to that point, we would
close down the bakery before we would compromise our beliefs, so that
may be what it comes to. We'll see,” he said.
But the cake shop owner went on to say
that it's nothing personal: “If gays come in and want to order
birthday cakes or any cakes for any occasion, graduations, or
whatever, I have no prejudice against that whatsoever. It's just the
wedding cake – not the people, not their lifestyle.”