BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Attorneys representing a Bakersfield bakery owner sued for refusing to make a gay couple a wedding cake have submitted a new filing asking the Kern County judge deciding the case to consider a recent Kentucky ruling in favor of a photographer who won’t shoot same-sex weddings.
In the Kern case, a trial was held in July after the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Tastries’ owner Cathy Miller. Superior Court Judge Eric Bradshaw has not yet issued a ruling.
Jeffrey Trissell, one of Miller’s attorneys, said Friday the Kentucky case bears certain similarities to Miller’s. He said they submitted it for Bradshaw’s review because of its relevance.
At trial, state attorneys argued Miller violated a California civil rights act which says all people, regardless of sexual orientation, must be given equal services at all businesses.
Miller’s lawyers say forcing her to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples would violate her religious beliefs that marriage should only occur between a man and a woman. They also argued the creation of a wedding cake is a form of artistic expression and the state cannot force a person to create a piece of art against their will.
On Thursday, Miller’s attorneys filed a notice of a 44-page ruling in the case of Chelsey Nelson Photography vs. Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government.
In 2019, Nelson, a Christian who, like Miller, believes marriage should only occur between a man and woman, filed a lawsuit asking the court to issue an injunction against Louisville’s “Fairness Ordinance.” The 1999 law provides for “equal access to goods and services regardless of sexual orientation.”
Both Nelson and the city interpreted the ordinance as forcing her to photograph same-sex weddings.
A judge on Tuesday issued a ruling in Nelson’s favor, finding “her refusal to photograph same-sex weddings rests on a sincerely held religious belief.” The ruling says the city can’t force her to photograph those services or stop her from posting statements on her website saying she won’t photograph them.
The judge notes Nelson’s case is one of many similar ones that have been filed.
“Courts across the country have addressed whether bakers, florists, website designers and other creative professionals must either provide their services for weddings that violate their beliefs or else abstain entirely from the wedding business,” the ruling says. “And those courts’ disagreement on whether this amounts to prohibited discrimination or protected dissent is what the U.S. Supreme Court has set out to resolve during its upcoming term.”
