Christian Baker Faces Threats after Refusing LGBTQ Cake Order
A Christian baker, Cathy Miller, is planning to take her case to the U.S. Supreme Court amid a years-long battle with the state of California for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex couple. Miller, who owns Tastries shop in Bakersfield, California, first became embroiled in the conflict after she politely declined to bake a cake for a same-sex couple in 2017 because of her faith. Her refusal prompted the couple to file a complaint.
“They ignited a firestorm on social media,” Adèle Keim, senior counsel at Becket, told CBN News. “They accused her of turning them away harshly, turning them away completely, which she hadn’t been trying to do. She’d been trying to work with them and help them as much as she could in good conscience — and she has been in court ever since.”
Although Miller had a court victory stating she could not be forced to operate against her faith-based views, California later was victorious on appeal and the California Supreme Court refused to take up the case.
“It’s the California Civil Rights Department that has gone after Cathy for these past seven or eight years,” Keim said. “During this time, this seven or eight-year period, the U.S. Supreme Court has said twice … when it comes to the wedding vendors who have a conscientious objection, ‘Back off. Back off.’ They said that in Masterpiece Cake Shop, which also involved a cake artist in Colorado, and they said it in 303 Creative, which involved a wedding website designer.”
“So the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken very clearly, and California courts have not had ears to hear,” Keim continued.
Keim also rejected California’s purported belief that the civil rights law supersedes the U.S. Constitution.
“The U.S. Constitution was intended to protect the rights of all Americans, no matter where they live in the country,” she said.
Keim added that California has attempted to fine Miller and to “stop her from doing any wedding cakes at all if she doesn’t do all the wedding cakes that the state wants her to do.”
Miller has also faced threats of rape, hatred, and hate mail regarding her position. Her staff likewise faced these types of attacks, Keim noted.
During a 2023 interview with CBN News, Miller explained the incident of her declining to bake the cake and what took place afterward.
“I prayed very hard, and I asked the Lord to give me wisdom,” she said at the time. “And I just started visiting with them, and I told them I couldn’t do their cake … I said, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t hurt my Lord and Savior. I can’t participate in this union because …God says it’s a sacrament between a man and a woman.’”
She tried to refer the same-sex couple to someone she knows as “an amazing decorator” and is also part of the LGBTQ community. She successfully did so in the past, but this time was different.
“I was shocked, and I know they were upset, but I did not think that it would go this far,” Miller said. “I did not realize that, within two hours, we would be bombarded by hate mail, death threats, rape threats. The media was storming into our bakery.”
Regarding the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case, Keim asked for prayers for her client.
“Pray for Cathy … pray for the people around them that have stood with them through all of this persecution,” she said. “And if you have someone in your life who’s taking a stand for their faith … keep them in your prayers.”
WATCH: Christian Baker Terrorized over Cake Refusal Won't Back Down
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Elyse Lewin
Originally published June 11, 2025.
