Black church leaders throw their support for Colorado baker who refused to bake gay wedding cake
Conservative black church leaders have launched a campaign to show their support for Colorado baker Jack Phillips, who is currently awaiting a hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court on a case over his refusal to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.
On Monday, nine Christian leaders held a press conference outside the Supreme Court to voice their support for Phillips and stress that the civil rights movement's efforts to gain equal access to schooling and health care do not equate with a gay couple's wedding cake request.
"We had to fight for equal treatment because of the color of our skin," said Rev. William Avon Keen, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Virginia. "Christians should not be forced to support sin," he added.
The press conference was organized by the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group that promotes Christian and conservative values. As part of the campaign, the foundation also launched a website in support of Phillips called "We Got Your Back, Jack."
Rev. Dean Nelson, the chairman of the foundation, said that the aim of the campaign is the "support of Jack Phillips and all people of faith and conscience who simply want to live their lives, who simply want the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Nelson, who also is a senior fellow for African-American affairs at the Family Research Council, contended that the role of the government is to "protect those who have diverse opinions and view points, not to punish them."
Rally speaker Patrina Mosley, assistant director of Family Research Council Action, told Life Site News that creative artists such as Phillips are not declining service to anyone because of their sexual orientation but rather because they do not want to create art for a ceremony that goes against their beliefs.
She stressed that Phillips, who was not present at the press conference, "had served gays all the time," but noted that his religious conviction prevents him from creating cakes for certain types of events.
Mosley further noted that Phillips has declined to create cakes celebrating divorce, Halloween, and cakes that contained offensive language from those who wanted to "abuse the LGBT community verbally."
The nine church leaders were also joined by Janet Boynes, founder of a Minneapolis-based ministry that offers "spiritual guidance for those who choose to walk away from homosexuality."
Boynes, who described herself as an "ex-lesbian," also criticized the efforts to equate the civil rights and gay rights movements.
"I resent having my race compared to what other people do in bed. There is no comparison. It only trivializes racial discrimination," she said.
Phillips' lawyers are expected to ask the high court in the hearing that will be held on Dec. 5 to affirm that the baker's free speech and religious liberty rights under the First Amendment allow him to turn down a request by two male customers to create a same-sex wedding cake, The Daily Signal noted.