A Christian baker in California has won a lawsuit brought by a lesbian couple against her for refusing, on religious grounds, to bake a wedding cake to celebrate their marriage.
The left has been targeting Christian bakers for years for political gain, asking religious bakers opposed to same-sex marriage to bake gay wedding cakes knowing they will meet resistance. When bakers refuse to bake the cakes, these activists take legal action under anti-discrimination laws, hoping to win favorable legal precedents.
In Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018), the Supreme Court sided with a Christian baker who was asked by a gay couple to create a personalized cake to celebrate their union. A state human rights commission violated Masterpiece owner Jack Phillips’ First Amendment right to the free exercise of his religion by ruling against him, the court found. The High Court will hear a similar case, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, December 5.
California Superior Court Judge Eric Bradshaw’s new decision (pdf) in Kern County came on October 21 in Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) v. Cathy’s Creations Inc.
The DFEH claimed that Cathy Miller and Cathy’s Creations Inc., which runs a small bakery called Tastries in Bakersfield, California, violated the state’s civil rights law and discriminated against Eileen Rodriguez-del Rio and Mireya Rodriguez-del Rio because of their sexual orientation. The two tied the knot in California in December 2016. Miller declined to bake a cake in honor of their wedding, citing her sincere religious belief that marriage is meant to be between one man and one woman, but referred the couple at another bakery.
But DFEH “failed to prove the discriminatory intent required” by state law, Bradshaw determined. “The evidence also affirmatively showed that the defendants provided full and equal service to [the couple] by referring them to a comparable bakery.
Miller’s “pure and expressive speech is entitled to protection under the First Amendment.” Tastries baking a wedding cake is “labor-intensive” and “artistic,” Bradshaw wrote.
The DFEH is “precluded by the defendants’ right to free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution from enforcing the [state law] compel or prohibit the speech of the accused”.
“We commend the court on this decision,” one of his attorneys, Charles LiMandri, a partner at LiMandri and Jonna LLP, said in a statement.
“The freedom to practice religion is enshrined in the First Amendment, and the United States Supreme Court has long supported freedom of artistic expression,” said LiMandri, who is also a special adviser to the Thomas More Society, the firm of public interest attorneys who acted for Miller.
“There is a certain irony in this that a law intended to protect individuals from religious discrimination has been used to discriminate against Cathy for her religious beliefs,” said Paul Jonna, who is also a partner at LiMandri and Jonna LLP and special adviser to the Thomas More Society. .
Jonna said Miller held dominant Christian beliefs that are entitled to be upheld by the courts.
“Cathy believes in the Bible,” he said in a statement.
“The state was questioning the sincerity of Cathy’s faith,” Jonna said, adding that Tastries is adorned with Christian decor and plays Christian music on its sound system.
“The fact that they questioned Miller’s open and sincere beliefs is almost as disturbing as quibbling about his status as an artist,” the attorney said.
The Epoch Times has contacted DFEH for comment, but has not received a response as of press time.