DENVER — The owner of a Lakewood bakery is trying to take his latest case to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop, who refused to create a cake recognizing a gender transition, is asking the Colorado Supreme Court to take up his case after a trial and appeals court ruled against him.
Phillips claims his concerns are rooted in his freedom of speech.
"Can the government force me to express messages that I can't in good conscience express?" he asked.
In June of 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would take up Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. In that case, Phillips refused to create a wedding cake for a gay couple and was eventually handed a victory in a narrow ruling.
On the same day the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear the case, Autumn Scardina called Masterpiece Cakeshop and requested a cake for herself.
"I designed the cake and told him it was going to be a pink cake with blue frosting," said Scardina.
Scardina, who is a transgender woman, then expressed what the cake meant to her.
"At that point, I shared with him that this cake to me is the celebration of both my birth, and the fact that I am transgender," said Scardina. "And so the colors have significance to me. But obviously, they had no inherent message or significance to them."
After learning about what the cake meant to Scardina, Phillips refused to make the cake for her. He said he offered her any other pre-made cakes in the shop.
"We were told that the colors were symbolic of changing from a man to a woman," said Phillips. "And it was clearly a message, and I shouldn't be forced to create it."
Under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, it's illegal in Colorado for places of public accommodation, like retail stores, to discriminate against protected classes of people, which includes transgender people in the state of Colorado.
Scardina sued under the law, and a trial and appeals court ruled in Scardina's favor.
The courts stated that Phillips violated the law in part because the pink and blue cake did not convey a "message attributable" to Phillips, and the cake's message was "inextricably intertwined" with Scardina's status as a transgender person.
Phillips is now appealing that decision to the Colorado Supreme Court.
"I'm just hopeful that it's encouraging to everybody to understand what their rights are, and that the government shouldn't be able to force people to speak messages or convey messages that they don't want to express," said Phillips.
Denver7 requested a statement from Scardina's representative on the matter.
"We respect the bakery’s right to appeal these issues and anticipate that the bakery and its lawyers will continue to fight anti-discrimination laws across the country. We strongly believe that businesses should not be able to deny services to customers because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Ms. Scardina and her team are committed to these values and have confidence that the courts will uphold these laws," the statement read.
Phillips is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). ADF is also representing another Colorado business owner in 303 Creative v. Elenis.
That business owner sued to clarify whether her graphic design business would have to make wedding websites for same-sex couples. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to release its decision on that case in June.
Legal experts said the conservative U.S. Supreme Court will likely rule that applying a public-accommodation law to compel an artist to make certain creations violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.
The American Civil Liberties Union said such a ruling could lead to discrimination against protected classes, and ultimately weaken existing anti-discrimination laws.
