How One Man’s Request For An Anti-Gay Cake Turned Into A Civil Rights Landmark

So a man in Colorado walked into a bakery with designs for an anti-gay cake. While this sounds like the build-up to a tasteless joke, it actually turned into a huge win for civil rights.

Last March, William Jack asked the Denver-based Azucar Bakery to create two cakes for him in the shape of Bibles. The cakes would then quote anti-gay verses and feature an image of two groomsmen holding hands. Their hands would then be crossed out.

The owner of the bakery, Marjorie Silva, refused Jack’s request and told him that her bakery does not discriminate against groups of people. She did, however, offer to make the Bible cakes and give Jack the icing to decorate his cakes any way he wanted.

Jack was not pleased with this decision. The dissatisfied customer took the case to the Colorado Civil Rights Division, ironically, for discriminating against him. Silva, however, refuted the claim saying that she refused to serve him based on his request of “derogatory language and imagery.”

According to sources, the ruling stated that Silva would not accept orders discriminating against gays just as she wouldn’t accept orders discriminating against Christians. Essentially, the bakery would refuse to make a cake that discriminated against anyone. Period.

The Colorado Rights Division ruled in favor of Silva, last week. The past year has been an intense one for Silva and her bakery, but she stands firmly behind her decision and is glad she won.

Jack, however, plans to appeal this decision.