The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday
declined to hear the case of a baker who refused to make a wedding
cake for a gay couple.
The decision leaves in place a lower
court ruling against Denver-based Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack
Phillips.
In 2012, Phillips refused to consider
baking a cake for Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig. The men married in
Massachusetts and wanted to buy a cake from Phillips for their Denver
reception. Phillips said that serving the couple would violate his
religious faith. Colorado at the time recognized gay and lesbian
couples with civil unions, not marriage.
The couple sued, saying that Phillips'
faith does not give him a right to discriminate.
The men were represented by the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“The highest court in Colorado today
affirmed that no one should be turned away from a public-facing
business because of who they are or who they love,” said
Ria Tabacco Mar, staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBT Project,
who argued the case. “We all have a right to our personal beliefs,
but we do not have a right to impose those beliefs on others and harm
them. We hope today’s win will serve as a lesson for others that
equality and fairness should be our guiding principles and that
discrimination has no place at the table, or the bakery as the case
may be.”
Attorney Nicolle Martin, who represents
Phillips, told the AP that she is considering an appeal to the U.S.
Supreme Court.