A California trial court in Kern County ruled that a bakery that refused to furnish custom-designed cakes for same-sex weddings and referred out to other bakeries did not violate the state’s civil rights act because “Miller and Tastries do not design and do not offer to any person – regardless of sexual orientation – custom wedding cakes that ‘contradict God’s sacrament of marriage between a man and a woman.”
The Court also observed that the bakery “has established written design standards for all custom bakery items,” which are part of the employee handbook based on the baker’s experience with custom orders. The bakery, by policy outlined in the linked ruling, also will not make “designs promoting marijuana or casual drug use,” “designs presenting explicit sexual content,” “designs portraying anything offensive, demeaning or violent,” “designs depicting gore, witches, spirits, and satanic or demonic content.” The bakery also explicitly states, “wedding cakes must not contradict God’s sacrament of marriage between a man and a woman.” If a request was received for these designs, the owner arranged for referrals to another local bakery.
An employee testified at trial that employees had made cakes that violated the design standard, but they had “concealed their activities” from the owner. The court’s order provides a comprehensive overview of the case.
As the U.S. Supreme Court has set oral arguments on a wedding-related service case, 303 Creative v. Elenis, for December 5, 2022, this case will likely wait on appeal until sometime next year.