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

Contents:

• SUPREME COURT TOSS LG AGAST BAKERS WHO REFED KE FOR GAY UPLE
• GAY COUPLE AT CENTER OF WEDDG CAKE DECISN SLAMS SUPREME COURT
• IN NARROW OPN, SUPREME COURT RUL FOR BAKER IN GAY-RIGHTS CASE
• US SUPREME COURT BACKS COLORADO BAKER'S GAY WEDDG KE SNUB
• U.S. SUPREME COURT BACKS CHRISTIAN BAKER WHO REBUFFED GAY UPLE
• SUPREME COURT HEARS WHY BAKER REFED TO MAKE A WEDDG KE FOR GAY UPLE
• SUPREME COURT SIS WH BAKER WHO TURNED AWAY GAY COUPLE’S REQUT FOR WEDDG CAKE
• THE BAKER, THE GAY COUPLE AND THE WEDDG CAKE
• THE COLORADO BAKERY THAT REFED TO SERVE A GAY COUPLE IS ABOUT TO GET A SUPREME COURT RULG
• GAY UPLE, VOUT BAKER TAKE KE FIGHT TO HIGH URT

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

The Supreme Court on Monday threw out a lg agast two Oregon bakers who refed to bake a weddg ke for a lbian uple, Melissa and Aaron Kle, ced relig beliefs as their reason for not providg servic for a gay weddg. WASHINGTON SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST FLORIST WHO REFUSED SERVICE FOR GAY COUPLE'S WEDDINGOn Monday, the Supreme Court sent the Kle se back down to a lower urt "for further nsiratn light of" their Colorado central disput the se -- which ps LGBT rights agast relig eedom nsiratns -- have yet to be addrsed by the Supreme Court.

GAY COUPLE AT CENTER OF WEDDG CAKE DECISN SLAMS SUPREME COURT

Kle then said the bakery do not make k for gay weddgs, urt documents 's mother, who was wh her, said Kle quoted the Bible when explag his Kles had to pay a $135, 000 judgment to the uple for discrimatg agast them vlatn of a state public acmodatns statute.

The gay uple at the center of a lawsu agast a nservative Christian baker who refed to sell them a weddg ke slammed the U.

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

Elenis, provid clary at the expense of gay rights as the nservative urt ma easier for bs to discrimate agast LGBTQ+ people.

US SUPREME COURT BACKS COLORADO BAKER'S GAY WEDDG KE SNUB

Like the Masterpiece se, the 303 Creative lawsu also grew out of a relig bs owner’s refal to serve a gay uple. The gay uple was imagary.

In a searg dissent, Jtice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the cisn opened up a sea of disturbg possibili, givg the example of a nservative photographer who might refe to photograph an terracial uple or a funeral home that would refe to handle the body of a gay man. “It was always about standg up to homophobia. The se began when a same-sex uple Colorado — Charlie Craig and Dave Mulls — filed a plat wh the state civil-rights missn after baker Jack Phillips told them that he did not sign ctom k for gay upl.

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

Kennedy said is "unexceptnal" that Colorado law "n protect gay persons acquirg products and servic on the same terms and ndns that are offered to other members of the public, " but at the same time, "the law mt be applied a manner that is ntral toward relign. Moreover, the state law at the time afford storekeepers some latu to cle creatg specific msag they nsired offensive, and the Colorado missn had prevly allowed three different bakers to refe to put an anti-gay msage on a ke. " Throughout the opn, Kennedy seemed to be balancg the ledger, tryg not to disturb public acmodatn laws like the one Colorado and reeratg that gay people may "not be treated as outsts.

SUPREME COURT HEARS WHY BAKER REFED TO MAKE A WEDDG KE FOR GAY UPLE

" While a member of the clergy clearly nnot be forced to nduct a weddg ceremony for a same-sex uple, vlatn of his relig views, Kennedy said, Colorado "n protect gay persons, jt as n protect other class of dividuals.

He closed by sayg that "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. They argued that as the Colorado missn had prevly allowed bakers to refe to rate k wh anti-gay signs, the missn's cisn to le agast Phillips was herently nsistent and discrimated agast some relig groups. Image source, RtersImage ptn, Jack Phillips has temporarily stopped makg weddg kThe US Supreme Court has led favour of a baker Colorado who refed to make a weddg ke for a gay Colorado state urt had found that baker Jack Phillips' cisn to turn away David Mulls and Charlie Craig 2012 was unlawful the Supreme Court led on Monday a 7-2 vote that that cisn had vlated Mr Phillips' rights.

The nservative Christian ced his relig beliefs refg rights groups feared a lg agast the uple uld set a precent for treatg gay marriag differently om heterosexual the Supreme Court's verdict stead foc specifilly on Mr Phillips' se. The cisn do not state that florists, photographers, or other servic n now refe to work wh gay lg three years after the Supreme Court ma same-sex marriage the law of the land s landmark Obergefell v Hodg source, Getty ImagImage ptn, David Mulls (left) and Charlie Craig wanted a weddg ke to celebrate their planned marriageWhat did Monday's lg say?

SUPREME COURT SIS WH BAKER WHO TURNED AWAY GAY COUPLE’S REQUT FOR WEDDG CAKE

Jtice Anthony Kennedy wrote that while Colorado law "n protect gay persons acquirg products and servic... A siar 'gay ke' row is ongog Northern Ireland.

The Supreme Court Belfast has yet to release an opn on a lower urt lg that found the owners of a bakery discrimated agast a gay activist for refg to bake a ke wh the slogan "Support Gay Marriage" row began May 2014, when gay activist Gareth Lee placed an orr for a ke wh the gay marriage days later, the Christian-owned Ashers bakery ncelled the orr sayg "would ntradict their relig beliefs". 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 BAKER, THE GAY COUPLE AND THE WEDDG CAKE

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. “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. “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.

THE COLORADO BAKERY THAT REFED TO SERVE A GAY COUPLE IS ABOUT TO GET A SUPREME COURT RULG

Supreme Court appeared closely divid Tuday the se of a Colorado baker who refed to make a ke for a gay uple's weddg baker, Jack Phillips, said would vlate his eedom of exprsn. But the uple he turned down said refg to serve gay ctomers was illegal discrimatn. He has wrten all the urt's gay rights lgs, but he is also one of the urt's most arnt advot of ee speech rights.

"If you prevail, " he asked the lawyer for Phillips, "and bakeri put signs the wdow sayg, 'We don't bake k for gay weddgs, ' wouldn't that be an afont to the gay muny? "Kennedy seemed to take the oppose si of the se when he told a lawyer for the gay uple, "Tolerance is sential a ee society, " but add that Colorado wasn't very tolerant of Phillips' relig beliefs when the state's human rights missn led agast cint that brought the se to the high urt lasted only a few mut, the day David Mulls and Charlie Craig of Denver walked to Masterpiece Phillips found out they wanted a ke for a receptn to celebrate their weddg, he said, "I'm sorry, guys, I n't do that. "After the uple filed a formal plat, the Colorado urts led that the state's public acmodatn law, which bans discrimatn by pani offerg their servic to the public, did not allow Phillips to refe the gay uple's requt.

And the ACLU's David Cole, argug for the gay uple, said that was rrect.

GAY UPLE, VOUT BAKER TAKE KE FIGHT TO HIGH URT

But the hight urt the land is not cidg the big issue the se – whether a bs n refe to serve gay and lbian Supreme Court jtic' limed lg Monday turns on what the urt scribed as anti-relig bias on the Colorado Civil Rights Commissn when led agast baker Jack Phillips. supreme urtOne of the biggt s to recently h the Supreme Court—volvg a baker, a gay uple and a weddg ke—was led favor of the pastry chef on Monday, June baker, Colorado-based bs owner Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakhop, ially refed to create a ctom weddg receptn ke for a same-sex uple on the grounds of his own personal relig beliefs.