Home » News » Judge rules for Calif. baker over same-sex wedding cakes

By The Associated Press, published on October 24, 2022

Select Dynamic field

Photo courtesy iStock: sjharmon

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — A California judge has ruled in favor of a bakery owner who refused to make wedding cakes for a same-sex couple because doing so would violate her Christian beliefs.

The state Department of Fair Housing and Employment had sued Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, arguing owner Cathy Miller intentionally discriminated against the couple in violation of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act.

Miller’s attorneys argued her right to free speech and free expression of religion trumped the argument that she violated the anti-discrimination law. Kern County Superior Court Judge Eric Bradshaw ruled Oct. 21 that Miller acted lawfully in upholding her beliefs about what the Bible teaches regarding marriage.

The decision was welcomed as a First Amendment victory by Miller and her pro-bono attorneys with the conservative Thomas More Society.

“I’m hoping that in our community we can grow together,” Miller told The Bakersfield Californian after the ruling. “And we should understand that we shouldn’t push any agenda against anyone else.”

A spokesperson said the fair-housing department was aware of the ruling but had not decided what to do next. The couple, Eileen and Mireya Rodriguez-Del Rio, said they expect an appeal.

“Of course we’re disappointed, but not surprised,” Eileen told the newspaper. “We anticipate that our appeal will have a different result.”

An earlier decision in Kern County Superior Court also went Miller’s way, but it was later vacated by the 5th District Court of Appeal, which sent the lawsuit back to the county.

The decision comes as a Colorado baker is challenging a ruling he violated that state’s anti-discrimination law by refusing to make a cake celebrating a gender transition. That baker, Jack Phillips, separately won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing on religious grounds to make a gay couple’s wedding cake a decade ago.

The Free Speech Center newsletter offers a digest of First Amendment and news media-related news every other week. Subscribe for free here: https://bit.ly/3kG9uiJ

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

More than 1,700 articles on First Amendment topics, court cases and history