Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Sunday, April 05, 2015
Bakery's Refusal To Place Anti-Gay Messages on Cakes Is Not Religious Discrimination
Scripps Media reported Friday that the Colorado Civil Rights Division has recently ruled in a Letter of Determination finding No Probable Cause that a Denver bakery did not engage in religious discrimination when it refused to bake and decorate two cakes with anti-gay-marriage messages. William Jack, a Christian, asked the Azucar Bakery to furnish cakes shaped like a Bible decorated with two groomsmen, a cross with red X over it, and with Biblical verses that deal with sin and homosexuality. The bakery owner told Jack that she would bake the cakes, but not decorate them as requested. Instead she would furnish him with a pastry bag and icing so he could decorate it as he wished. The Division Director's decision concluded that the bakery owner refused to decorate the cakes because Jack had requested "derogatory language and imagery," and not because of Jack's Christian creed. Jack is filing an appeal with the Civil Rights Division. (See prior related posting.)