Baker is almost ruined by trolls after he refused to bake a same-sex cake | World | news

A devout Christian baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple said he was nearly put out of business by trolls who flooded him with strange and insulting requests after the court case.

In 2012, Jack Phillips from Colorado, USA, turned down gay couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig for asking them to make a wedding cake because of his own religious beliefs. The story would go on to make headlines around the world.

A Colorado state court sided with Messrs. Mullins and Craig after they filed against Phillips, but in 2018 the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in a vote that said the state’s decision violated the religious rights of Mr. Phillips under the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Last week, Colorado’s highest court dismissed another case filed against Phillips on procedural grounds. NBC News reported that she had refused to bake a cake for a customer celebrating a gender transition.

Speaking to the Telegraph, the conservative Christian, who runs the Masterpiece Cakeshop, said he had been inundated since the first court case with malicious, rude and insulting requests for cakes.

He told the newspaper: “We had so many requests for so many other cakes.

“We had someone ask to send us a wedding cake to each of our 50 states. That kind of thing, just crazy, gross stuff.”

Phillips said she has had to shut down the wedding cake aspect of her business, which she previously described as the “main part” of her job.

But even though he’s stopped cooking wedding masterpieces, Mr. Phillips still gets random requests for everything from celebrating cannabis to celebrating divorce.

It has also rejected sexually explicit cakes, requests for images of Satan and those that insulted gay and transgender people.

Mr. Phillips adds: “We were a very successful wedding cake business in Denver, known throughout the city. And they took that away from us. We’re still in business. It’s just been a lot different than it was 12 years ago. years

“It’s the lawyers who do all the hard work, I just run a bakery, that’s enough work in itself.”

Another negative of losing business is that Mr. Phillips has had to cut the number of people it employs in half. During his well-publicized tumultuous experience in the US court system, Mr Phillips said he also received threats against himself and his business.

In 2012, Mr Phillips said he received a call from someone who told him “I’m going to blow your head off”.

Recalling the disturbing conversation, Phillips said the person, who has never been located, said he had a gun and was at one point “10 minutes” from his store. Fortunately, whoever was on the phone never showed up.

“I’m on my way to your store. I’ve got a gun. I’m going to blow your head off,” the individual said. They called again and again, telling Mr. Phillips how close they were to his pie business, located in a quiet suburb of Denver.

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a lobby group that takes on cases protecting free speech rights, helped fund Phillips’ costs during the many years of legal wrangling.

Jake Warner, the ADF’s senior lawyer, said: “Jack has been dragged through the courts for over a decade. It’s time to leave him alone. Enough is enough.”