DENVER — A Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex ceremony should not be forced to violate his religious beliefs, his attorney told a judge deciding whether the cake-maker should be made to accommodate gay couples. But an attorney representing a gay couple countered Wednesday that the baker's faith doesn't give him a right to discriminate.
At issue in the complaint from David Mullins and Charlie Craig against Masterpiece Cakeshop in suburban Denver is whether religious freedom can protect a business from discrimination allegations.
Mullins and Craig wanted to buy a cake last year, but when one of the shop owners, Jack Phillips, found out the cake was for a gay wedding, he turned the couple away and cited his religious faith.
Phillips' attorney, Nicolle Martin, said her client shouldn't be forced to ignore his Christian faith.
''He believes this is a vocation chosen for him by God, and as a man of God, Jack Phillips lives by certain biblical principles,'' Martin said.
Phillips faces up to a year in prison if the court rules against him and he continues to refuse to make wedding cakes for gay couples.