U.S. Supreme Court backs Christian baker who rebuffed gay uple | Rters

Contents:

• U.S. SUPREME COURT BACKS CHRISTIAN BAKER WHO REBUFFED GAY UPLE
• US SUPREME COURT BACKS CHRISTIAN BAKER WHO SPURNED GAY UPLE
• SUPREME COURT TOSS LG AGAST BAKERS WHO REFED KE FOR GAY UPLE
• U.S. SUPREME COURT BACKS CHRISTIAN BAKER WHO SPURNED GAY UPLE
• IN NARROW OPN, SUPREME COURT RUL FOR BAKER IN GAY-RIGHTS CASE

U.S. SUPREME COURT BACKS CHRISTIAN BAKER WHO REBUFFED GAY UPLE

Supreme Court on Monday hand a victory on narrow grounds to a Colorado baker who refed based on his Christian beliefs to make a weddg ke for a gay uple, stoppg short of settg a major precent allowg people to claim relig exemptns om anti-discrimatn jtic, a 7-2 cisn, said the Colorado Civil Rights Commissn showed an impermissible hostily toward relign when found that baker Jack Phillips vlated the state’s anti-discrimatn law by rebuffg gay uple David Mulls and Charlie Craig 2012.

The cisn also did not addrs important claims raised the se cludg whether bakg a ke is a kd of exprsive act protected by the Constutn’s ee speech of the urt’s four liberals, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, joed the five nservative jtic the lg thored by Jtice Anthony Kennedy, who also wrote the landmark 2015 cisn legalizg gay marriage baker se beme a cultural flashpot the Uned Stat, unrsrg the tensns between gay rights proponents and nservative sis claimed a measure of victory. The uple’s supporters noted that the lg embraced the importance of gay rights and ma clear that bs open to the public mt serve everyone.

US SUPREME COURT BACKS CHRISTIAN BAKER WHO SPURNED GAY UPLE

“Our society has e to the regnn that gay persons and gay upl nnot be treated as social outsts or as ferr digny and worth, ” Kennedy Kennedy said the state missn’s hostily toward relign “was nsistent wh the First Amendment’s guarantee that our laws be applied a manner that is ntral toward relign. ”Kennedy said the missn led the oppose way three s brought agast bakers which the bs owners refed to bake k ntag msag that meaned gay people or same-sex marriage.

SUPREME COURT TOSS LG AGAST BAKERS WHO REFED KE FOR GAY UPLE

“The First Amendment prohibs ernments om discrimatg agast cizens on the basis of relig beliefs, ” Attorney General Jeff Ssns said a cisn ma clear that even if the urt ultimately l a future se that bakers or other bs that sell creative products such as florists and weddg photographers n avoid punishment unr anti-discrimatn laws, most bs open to the public would have no such the 50 stat, 21 cludg Colorado have anti-discrimatn laws protectg gay se marked a tt for Kennedy, who has thored signifint lgs that advanced gay rights but also is a strong advote for ee speech rights and relig eedom. “The oute of s like this other circumstanc mt awa further elaboratn the urts, all the ntext of regnizg that the disput mt be rolved wh tolerance, whout undue disrpect to scere relig beliefs, and whout subjectg gay persons to digni when they seek goods and servic an open market, ” Kennedy a wrten dissent, Jtice Ruth Bar Gsburg, joed by fellow liberal Sonia Sotomayor, said what mattered was that Phillips would not provi a good or service to a same-sex uple that he would provi to a heterosexual ligatn, along wh siar s around the untry, was part of a nservative Christian backlash to the Supreme Court’s gay marriage lg.

Mulls and Craig were planng their weddg Massachetts 2012 and wanted the ke for a receptn Colorado, where gay marriage was not yet legal. Phillips and others like him who believe that gay marriage is nsistent wh their Christian beliefs have said they should not be required to effectively endorse the practice. The jtic on Thursday will nsir whether to hear an appeal by a Washgton state flower shop owner who refed to create a floral arrangement to celebrate a gay weddg, based on her Christian beliefs.

Supreme Court se June over his refal to make a weddg ke a gay uple based on his relig nvictns, he thought his legal battl wh the state of Colorado were over, acrdg to a now Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakhop Lakewood, Colorado, is facg a new urt fight, this one volvg a lawyer who asked him to bake a ke to celebrate the anniversary of her genr transn. Supreme Court on Monday hand a victory on narrow grounds to a Colorado Christian baker who refed for relig reasons to make a weddg ke for a gay uple, stoppg short of settg a major precent allowg people to claim exemptns om anti-discrimatn laws based on relig beliefs.

U.S. SUPREME COURT BACKS CHRISTIAN BAKER WHO SPURNED GAY UPLE

The jtic, a 7-2 cisn, said the Colorado Civil Rights Commissn showed an impermissible hostily toward relign when found that baker Jack Phillips vlated the state's anti-discrimatn law by rebuffg gay uple David Mulls and Charlie Craig 2012. Two of the urt's four liberals, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, joed the five nservative jtic the lg thored by Jtice Anthony Kennedy, who also was the thor of the landmark 2015 cisn legalizg gay marriage natnwi. "The missn's hostily was nsistent wh the First Amendment's guarantee that our laws be applied a manner that is ntral toward relign, " Kennedy Kennedy also strsed the importance of gay rights while notg that ligatn on siar issu is likely to ntue lower urts.

IN NARROW OPN, SUPREME COURT RUL FOR BAKER IN GAY-RIGHTS CASE

"Our society has e to the regnn that gay persons and gay upl nnot be treated as social outsts or as ferr digny and worth, " Kennedy wrote. "The oute of s like this other circumstanc mt awa further elaboratn the urts, all the ntext of regnizg that the disput mt be rolved wh tolerance, whout undue disrpect to scere relig beliefs, and whout subjectg gay persons to digni when they seek goods and servic an open market, " Kennedy om FOX Bs... The se marked a tt for Kennedy, who has thored signifint lgs that advanced gay rights but also is a strong advote for ee speech rights and relig the 50 stat, 21 cludg Colorado have anti-discrimatn laws protectg gay se pted gay rights agast relig liberty.