Colorado baker Jack Phillips has insisted that making cakes for gay or transgender people would violate his religious beliefs as a Christian (Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) – An American baker and the US state of Colorado have ended a legal battle over his refusal to bake a birthday cake for a transgender woman.

Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in the suburbs of Denver, previously gained notoriety for refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple.

He had filed a lawsuit against the state claiming that his rights to freedom of speech and religion were being violated, but both sides agreed to drop their state and federal litigation in a deal that will see each side bear their own costs and attorneys’ fees.

“After careful consideration of the facts, both sides agreed it was not in anyone’s best interest to move forward with these cases,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

“The larger constitutional issues might well be decided down the road, but these cases will not be the vehicle for resolving them. Equal justice for all will continue to be a core value that we will uphold as we enforce our state’s and nation’s civil rights laws.”

Phillips grabbed headlines in June after the US Supreme Court, in a bombshell decision, partially ruled in his favor in the case involving the same-sex couple.

The justices voted 7-2 that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had displayed anti-religious hostility toward Phillips, thus violating his constitutional rights.

The court, however, did not address the issue of whether a business can decline to serve gays and lesbians on religious grounds.

Phillips had cited his Christian beliefs in 2012 when he refused to bake a cake for a gay couple.

Meanwhile, transgender lawyer Autumn Scardina brought a case against Phillips after he refused to bake her a cake with a pink interior and blue exterior in June 2017 to celebrate her birthday as well as the seventh anniversary of her transition from male to female.

Scardina filed a complaint with the state Civil Rights Commission, which found there was insufficient evidence to support her discrimination claim and urged both parties to resolve the matter amicably.

Phillips responded by filing a religious discrimination complaint against the state.

Scardina is not linked to the settlement between Colorado and Phillips and can therefore pursue her claim.

“Today is a win for freedom,” Phillips said in a statement, accusing the state of “hostility toward my faith.”

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