Embattled Christian baker appeals ruling over gender transition cake request

Embattled Christian baker Jack Phillips is challenging a court's determination that he violated Colorado's anti-discrimination law when he refused to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition.

Phillips previously went before the U.S. Supreme Court over his refusal to bake a cake for a same sex wedding, arguing that doing so would violate his religious beliefs. The court determined in 2018 that Colorado did not address his religious objection in a neutral fashion but declined to resolve the broader conflict between religious liberty and LGBT rights.

The current case involves a 2017 request from a transgender individual to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition which Phillips declined again on religious grounds, per the Washington Examiner. Phillips is asking the Colorado court of appeals to now overturn an earlier ruling against him on the basis of this refusal.

His lawyers argue that making the cake would require Phillips to endorse a message directly contrary to his religious beliefs and that to legally require him to do so would also constitute compelled speech in violation of the First Amendment, per the outlet. He previously testified during a 2021 trial that, as a Christian, he did not believe someone could change their gender, and cited that belief as why he would not bake the cake.