US: Court to hear appeal over bakery deemed to have discriminated against gay couple

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The Civil Rights Commission in the US state of Colorado will hold a hearing in a case over whether a bakery discriminated against a gay couple by refusing to provide a cake for their wedding.

A complaint was filed against Jack Phillips, after the couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig, visited the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Denver, Colorado in 2012.

The couple said Mr Phillips said he would not make a cake for them, after he found out they were celebrating their wedding in Colorado, after they got married in Massachusetts.

Judge Robert N Spencer last week ruled that Mr Phillips broke the law in refusing the service, and ordered him to accommodate all customers in future, or face fines and possible further penalties.

Defending, the Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom appealed against the ruling.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News since, Mr Phillips said: “If [going to prison is] what it takes, I guess I would be. I don’t plan on giving up my religious beliefs. . . . This is who I am, it’s what I believe.”

The case will be heard in the state capitol on Friday morning.