Colorado Supreme Court to hear arguments in transgender cake case

The Colorado Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit against a Christian baker who refused to make a cake celebrating a gender transition, one of three such cases from the state that have pitted LGBTQ+ civil rights against First Amendment rights.

Two cases have centered on baker Jack Phillips, who in 2012 refused to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding. Phillips partially prevailed before the U.S. Supreme Court in that case in 2018.

Phillips was later sued by Autumn Scardina, a transgender woman, after Phillips and his suburban Denver bakery refused to make a pink cake with blue frosting for her birthday that also celebrated her gender transition.

Scardina, an attorney, said she brought the lawsuit to “challenge the veracity” of Phillips’ statements that he would serve LGBTQ+ customers.

That case to be argued before the Colorado Supreme Court involves the state’s anti-discrimination law against refusing to provide services based on protected characteristics such as race, religion or sexual orientation.

The Colorado Court of Appeals previously sided with Scardina, ruling that the cake — on which Scardina did not request any writing — was not a form of speech.

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