Colo. baker appeals order to provide gay wedding cakes

Jack Phillips on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeals to reverse the May ruling by the Civil Rights Commission. Phillips was sued by a gay couple after he refused to make a cake to celebrate their wedding in 2012.

An AP story earlier this year recounted the incident.

Phillips stepped out from behind the counter in his small, pastry-crammed shop to meet customers Charlie Craig and Dave Mullins. They told him they wanted a cake to celebrate their own marriage.

Phillips replied he couldn't, but that he'd be glad to make one for other occasions, such as birthdays. Left unsaid was how making a gay wedding cake would violate his Christian faith, how he does not make ones for Halloween or bachelor parties, either.

Craig and Mullins left the shop, stunned. Left unsaid was how they viewed themselves as a regular couple, their wedding a private celebration, not a political statement. They simply wanted a no-frills cake.

Crushed, they posted a note about the encounter on Facebook and soon the cake had become a cause, with the sides becoming stand-ins for the culture wars: Phillips was the intolerant business owner. The couple became the gay rights activists pushing their agenda.

Phillips says he is deeply religious and that making the cake would violate the Christian principles by which he runs his business, Masterpiece Cake Shop.

The Commission said Phillips' refusal violated the state's public accommodation law that requires businesses to serve customers regardless of their sexual orientation. Phillips' attorneys argue that decision violates Phillips' First Amendment rights.