ICC Note:
The United States Supreme Court will be hearing the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission in the upcoming fall term. The Commission filed a law suit against the Christian bakery owner and artist, Jack Phillips, who refused to design a cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding back in 2012. As the case approaches its final juridic phase, Phillips has been subjected to verbal harassment and death-threats.
07-06-2017 United States (Fox News) – Jack Phillips is no stranger to controversy. The owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado, Phillips ignited a national debate after he refused to create a wedding cake for a gay couple in 2012. Since then, Phillips says he has lost a chunk of his business revenue, received death threats and been subjected to vile online reviews.
But that’s not the worst of it, Phillips told Fox News in an exclusive interview. For him, the most trying piece of the whole controversy is the hateful comments directed — even unintentionally — at his wife and daughter.
“In all of this, the threats against me or disparaging comments, the worst part is that I have to answer the phone so they’re not threatening my wife or my daughter when they pick it up,” Phillips said. “They don’t wait to see who’s on the phone. You pick up the phone, they’re already talking.”
Phillips added that he also tries to shield the other employees at the bakery from negative comments directed at him — at times becoming emotional as he spoke about his employees and family.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether Phillips discriminated against the gay couple when he refused to bake them a wedding cake due to his religious beliefs. Phillips said he didn’t refuse the couple service and offered to sell them anything in the store. But when it came to actively participating in the couple’s wedding, that’s where Phillips drew the line.
So the nation’s highest court is now tasked with striking a balance between the religious rights of Phillips with the couple’s right to equal treatment under the law.
Oral arguments will likely be held in the court’s fall term.
“This has always been about more than a cake,” David Mullins, one of the men who tried to purchase the wedding cake, said in a statement this week. “Businesses should not be allowed to violate the law and discriminate against us because of who we are and who we love.”
Mullins’ husband, Craig, added that the two are “disappointed” that the court has continued with the case.
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