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Mom says Masterpiece Cakeshop refused to put rainbows on daughter's birthday cake

Posted at 3:00 PM, Oct 06, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-20 21:11:32-04

A Littleton mom is slamming the Lakewood bakery at the center of a Supreme Court case, after she said the bakery refused to make her daughter a rainbow-themed birthday cake.

"He took this whole thing to a personal level," the mom, who didn't want to be identified, told Denver7.

In February, the woman said she called Masterpiece Cakeshop to order a 17-layer birthday cake with rainbow frosting, only to be told the owner doesn't make rainbow cakes.

"She's not gay, or anything, but she is an artist and she's really good at what she does and she uses every color and she wanted a rainbow birthday cake and he wouldn't do it," the woman said.

Instead, the woman ordered a peach cake after she said the bakery also refused to make her a plain white one.

The bakery owner, Jack Phillips, told Denver7 while they don't have a problem putting rainbows on the outside of a cake, they will not make a rainbow themed layered cake. He then directed further questions to his attorney who had not returned our call by the time of this publishing. 

It's not the first time the bakery has been under fire.

The case about a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in Colorado will have its day in court. The Supreme Court will begin oral arguments in the case December 5, it was revealed Friday.

Justices will consider whether a baker who objects to same-sex marriage on religious grounds can refuse to make a wedding cake for a gay couple.

The case asks the high court to balance the religious rights of the baker against the couple's right to equal treatment under the law. Similar disputes have popped up across the United States.

The decision to take on the case reflects renewed energy among the court's conservative justices, whose ranks have recently been bolstered by the addition of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the high court.

The court will review a Colorado court decision that found baker Jack Phillips and his Masterpiece Cakeshop discriminated against the gay couple under Colorado law.

Phillips told the Supreme Court he has free speech and religious rights under the First Amendment that should protect him. He said he should not be compelled to bake a cake specifically to honor a same-sex marriage.

Colorado's anti-discrimination law protects people on the basis of their sexual orientation. Charlie Craig and David Mullins filed a complaint against Phillips and his suburban Denver shop after Phillips said he would not create and decorate a cake in honor of their marriage.

Colorado did not permit same-sex couples to marry until 2014. Two years earlier, Craig and Mullin were planning to fly to Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage was legal, and host a reception in Denver upon their return to Colorado. They wanted a cake for the occasion.