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I was in court again on Tuesday, along with lawyers from Alliance Defending Freedom, asking the Colorado Supreme Court for justice on essentially the same charges that have dogged me for more than a decade: a demand that I be made to express a message whether I believe it or not.
I am a cake maker. I treat each customer with respect. You all know that I am happy to cater to people from all backgrounds. I decided to create custom cakes based on my customer’s needs. what They will express, Who It is always the message that is requested, not the person.
And cakes often communicate. As far back as Roman times, people have commissioned custom cakes to convey messages. I am asked to make a cake almost daily. Sometimes they include words, but often a symbol is enough. For example, parents often ask me to make a custom cake with a blue or pink inside to reveal the gender of their unborn child. Blue means a boy, pink means a girl. Done well, the cake will reveal the secret.
Masterpiece Cakeshop Owner Jack Phillips: How I Became the Face of ‘Conscience Rights’ Litigation in the US
A few years ago, a lawyer asked me to make another cake that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside. The lawyer said the theme of this cake was to “celebrate” and “symbolize” the “transition from male to female.” I understood the symbolism. The lawyer also asked me to make a custom cake that depicted Satan smoking marijuana. I will admit this is an attempt to change my beliefs. However, I cannot make a custom cake for someone that expresses such a message because it goes against my beliefs. So I politely declined, offering the lawyer whatever I could offer my other clients.
after that I was suedThe courts were familiar to me. For five years, state authorities prosecuted me, likened me to Nazis and slave owners, and denied me the same freedoms they gave to secular artists, all because they disagreed with my religious beliefs. The Supreme Court later ruled that this hostility violated my religious freedom. I was relieved to win, but the court did not address my freedom of speech, leaving me open to further harassment.
In these times of rising anger and social unrest, my neighbors and millions of Americans need civility, not enforcement.
Six years later, I’m still in court, facing punishment again for refusing to express a message I don’t believe in. But it’s not just my freedom that’s at risk; your freedom is at risk too. We may disagree about the definition of marriage or whether male-to-female gender transition is possible, but we can agree that the government should not force someone to express a message they don’t believe in.
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If the state can punish me, it can also force a lesbian designer to create custom graphics that criticize same-sex marriage. It can also force a black sculptor to create a white cross that promotes the racist Aryan National Church. It can also force a Taiwanese cake maker to create a custom red cake celebrating the Communist revolution. No government should have that power.
There’s a better way.
Cake artist Jack Phillips is the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado. (Hyeon Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
A few years ago, a local man who identified as gay and a former activist heard about my situation. He came into my store and introduced himself. He wanted to see for himself who I was and why I was taking the stand I did. I greeted him warmly and asked how I could help him. He has been back at least 25 times. I made a cake for him. He asked me to pray for him, and I did. We may not agree on some important issues, but he was my friend and he testified for me. That’s what we call civility — a heartfelt willingness to treat one another with kindness and respect.
In these times of rising anger and social unrest, my neighbors and millions of Americans need civility, not enforcement.
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Just last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Colorado law being used to punish me cannot force artists to express ideas they do not believe in. I appeared before the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday to ask them to reaffirm that important decision.
After all, freedom of speech belongs to everyone, even cake artists like me.
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