Colo. Court of Appeals Rules Christian Baker Liable for Refusing Gay Wedding Cake

The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled this week that a baker in Denver, Colorado would be liable for refusing to create a cake for a same-sex couple's wedding celebration based on his religious beliefs.

The appellate court ruled that the religious beliefs of Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop in Denver, do not protect him from the state's anti-discrimination law that says he as a business owner must provide service to customers regardless of their sexual orientation.

In 2012, Phillips had refused to bake a cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins, who were celebrating their same-sex nuptials in the area.

Phillips cited his Christian religious beliefs as the reason why he would not bake the cake, telling CBS Denver previously that "We would close down the bakery before we would complicate our beliefs."

Phillips' attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom legal group have said that they may contemplate taking the baker's case to the high court, but first they would attempt to appeal again in the state-level Supreme Court.

"Jack simply exercised the long-cherished American freedom to decline to use his artistic talents to promote a message with which he disagrees," attorney Jeremy Tedesco with Alliance Defending Freedom told the Associated Press. "The court is wrong to deny Jack his fundamental freedoms."

Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, the group representing the gay couple, told the New York Times that "the court squarely said that this is discrimination based on sexual orientation and it's not to be tolerated, even if it's motivated by faith."

"Religious liberty gives you the right to your beliefs but not the right to harm others," Melling added.