Cake artist Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, just wants the freedom to follow his conscience

The US administration has given its support to Christian baker Jack Phillips, who refused to make a cake for a gay wedding and was found guilty of discriminating against the same-sex couple.

Addressing the Supreme Court, which is to make a decision on Phillips’ appeal against his conviction, Acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall wrote: “Forcing Phillips to create expression for and participate in a ceremony that violates his sincerely held religious beliefs invades his First Amendment rights…  An artist cannot be forced to paint, a musician cannot be forced to play, and a poet cannot be forced to write.” 

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has also expressed its support.

The outcome of the case, Masterpiece Cakeshop-v-Colorado Civil Rights Commission, is crucial in the conflict between religious freedom and same-sex marriage.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the same-sex couple, called the US government’s decision “shocking”, but a coalition of 20 States support Phillips’ “right to religious liberty”.

As a baker in Colorado, Phillips has also declined to make Halloween cakes, anti-American cakes, adult-themed cakes, and cakes containing alcohol. His plight mirrors that of the Ashers bakery in Northern Ireland, which has been fighting a similar conviction; however, the Ashers were prosecuted by the government’s Equality Commission using taxpayers’ money.

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