Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig claim that Masterpiece owner Jack Phillips refused to bake one for them -- an action that Judge Robert Spencer determined last year was discriminatory. Phillips appealed that decision to the commission.
See also: Masterpiece Cakeshop: Yelp removes negative comments, while supporters create Facebook group
Spencer's ruling, which is on view below, found that Colorado state law prohibits "a place of public accommodation" -- which includes cake shops -- from discriminating against a person based on his or her sexual orientation. And Spencer didn't buy Phillips's argument that he's not opposed to gay people, just gay weddings.
"The salient feature distinguishing same-sex weddings from heterosexual ones is the sexual orientation of its participants," Spencer wrote. "Only same-sex couples engage in same-sex weddings. Therefore, it makes little sense to argue that refusal to provide a cake to a same-sex couple for use at their wedding is not 'because of' their sexual orientation."
Will the Colorado Civil Rights Commission agree? The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the old Supreme Court Chambers of the Colorado State Capitol.
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