Saturday, May 31, 2014

Colorado: Civil Rights Commission Finds Bakery Owner Discriminated Against Gays


Yet another new "Christian martyr" story will be sweeping wingnut land in the wake of a ruling by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission which affirmed the finding that a bakery that refused to provide services to a gay couple had violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.  As noted many times before on this blog, the Christofascists believe they are above the law and think they should be free to discriminate against anyone who doesn't conform to their feigned "deeply held religious beliefs."  Bakery owner, Jack Phillips (pictured above) is whining that he will close his business before he will provide services to gays.  The mindset is little different that that of Germans in Hitler's Germany who refused to provide services to Jews.  Hate and discrimination are still hate and discrimination no matter how one tries to dress it up in the cloak of religious belief.  Here are highlights from Andy Towle:

The Colorado Civil Rights Commission has rejected a Denver-area bakery owner’s appeal of an judge’s earlier ruling that the bakery owner, Jack Phillips, “unlawfully discriminated against a gay couple by refusing to sell them a wedding cake” last July.

The commission affirmed the prior ruling that found Phillips in violation of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. The commission also ordered a change of policy, staff training, and quarterly reporting to confirm that the bakery is not turning away customers due to sexual orientation.

Said Paula Greisen of King and Griessen LLP, which represents the gay couple as cooperating counsel with the ACLU of Colorado: “Everyone who shops in our stores and conducts business in our state should be treated with equality and dignity. That’s what this ruling was about today.”

Phillips has pledged to close his cake shop if forced to bake a gay wedding cake.

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