Colorado’s Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed on procedural grounds a lawsuit against a Christian baker who refused to bake a cake for a transgender woman. Justices declined to weigh in on the free speech issues that brought the case to national attention.
Baker Jack Phillips was sued by attorney Autumn Scardina in 2017 after his Denver-area bakery refused to make a pink cake with blue frosting to celebrate her gender transition.
Justices said in the 6-3 majority opinion that Scardina had not exhausted her options to seek redress through another court before filing her lawsuit.
The case was among several in Colorado pitting LGBTQ+ civil rights against First Amendment rights. In 2018, Phillips scored a partial victory before the U.S. Supreme Court after refusing to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding.
Scardina attempted to order her cake the same day the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear …