masterpiece cakeshop antidiscrimination act Colorado’s Masterpiece Cakeshop and its owner, Jack Phillips, continue to be the subject of litigation over whether the First Amendment protects their right to refuse certain custom cake requests by LGBTQ customers even though the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) bars such discrimination. Last week, a Colorado appeals court ruled in favor of customer Autumn Scardina, a transgender woman who filed suit against Masterpiece Cakeshop under the CADA law for refusing to make her a pink birthday cake with blue frosting to celebrate not only her birthday but her transition from a man to a woman. The appeals court affirmed the decision of the trial court, which rejected Masterpiece’s Free Speech claim on the ground that without any letters or symbols, a pink cake with blue frosting is not inherently expressive and is thus not constitutionally protected speech. The court also rejected Phillips’ religious Free Exercise claim: [A] proprietor’s actions based on their religious beliefs must be considered in light of a customer’s right to be free from discrimination based on their protected status. The Supreme Court has long held that the Free Exercise Clause does not relieve a person from the obligation to comply with […]
