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Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack PhillipsYouTube

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March 25, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Christian baker Jack Phillips is in court yet again over his refusal to create cakes that affirm LGBT ideology, this time for a “gender transition” cake.

Autumn Scardina filed a complaint against Phillips for declining to bake a cake that would be pink on the inside and blue on the outside to celebrate his “transition” from male to female. Two days later, Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD) director Aubrey Elenis wrote a letter concluding there was probable cause to conclude Phillips had unlawfully denied Scardina “equal enjoyment of a place of public accommodation.” 

In response, the religious liberty nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a federal lawsuit against outgoing Democrat Gov. John Hickenlooper and the state civil rights commission, accusing them of ignoring the U.S. Supreme Court’s previous ruling in Phillips’ favor over same-sex “marriage” cakes and continuing to discriminate against Phillips’ faith.

In March 2019, the state Attorney General’s office announced that it and Phillips’ attorneys have “mutually agreed to end their ongoing state and federal court litigation,” including the CCRD action against Phillips, though the agreement did not preclude Scardina from filing a civil suit of his own in state court, which he did.

That trial began virtually this week, USA Today reported. Scardina claimed that she ordered the cake after Phillips’ first victory to test his statement that he was “happy to sell a cake to anyone, whatever his or her sexual identity,” but simply refused to create works that “would communicate a message that contradicts my deepest religious convictions.”

Scardina said she was “calling (his) bluff,” despite the fact that celebrating gender transition is also a message that conflicted with Phillips’ convictions.

“The message would be that he agrees that a gender transition is something to be celebrated,” responded Phillips’s attorney, Sean Gates, who pointed out that Phillips is also on record declining requests for cakes with various other messages unrelated to LGBT issues, such as celebrating Halloween.

“Eight years is a long time to live under the weight of constant litigation that threatens the business you built and the people you love,” ADF’s Sarah Kramer said of the latest case. “During his first case, Jack lost a big part of his business and more than half of his employees. Over the years, he and his family have also endured hate mail, nasty phone calls, and even death threats.”

“This most recent lawsuit is a blatant attempt to punish Jack, banish him from the marketplace, and intimidate him out of business just for living according to his beliefs,” Kramer continued.

Over the years, pro-LGBT activists have grown increasingly aggressive in efforts to force private citizens to affirm and participate in pro-LGBT messages. The U.S. Senate is currently considering the so-called “Equality Act,” which would mandate LGBT accommodation from businesses to schools to athletics to adoption.