In a great victory for religious freedom, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission announced Tuesday that it will dismiss its most recent charges against cake artist Jack Phillips, ending over six years of legal battles against him. The state had launched this new prosecution just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor last year.
“Today is a win for freedom,” commented Jack Phillips. “I’m very grateful and looking forward to serving my customers as I always have: with love and respect.”
In this whole situation, every Pennsylvanian should ask the question: Why did the state ruled against Jack on the first place?
After Jack Phillips declined the message of designing a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony, the state of Colorado ruled against him, claiming it was unlawful discrimination based on their state’s “SOGI” law – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity – which added the special statuses of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” into state antidiscrimination law.
“SOGI laws have been used to target many of our clients,” states Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal team that defended Jack Phillips.
This same type of SOGI law is exactly what has been and continues to be proposed and pressured here in Pennsylvania. This year, legislation is already being proposed to add these special statuses and is sponsored by every Democrat State Senator.
In effect, by introducing a radical SOGI bill here, every Democrat Pennsylvania State Senator is willing to create the hostile climate in PA for the state to go after creative professionals like a cake baker who declines to participate in a message that goes against their sincerely-held religious beliefs. These laws also force sex-specific private areas like locker rooms and showers to be open to the opposite biological sex.
Stay tuned for more from Pennsylvania Family Council on how to stop this SOGI bill in Pennsylvania.