WASHINGTON (BP) — California Christian baker Cathy Miller is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm her right to refuse to bake wedding cakes celebrating unions that violate the biblical definition of marriage.

Miller, owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, Calif., appealed Aug. 27 to the nation’s highest court ahead of its fall term that convenes Oct. 6.

The appeal follows a May 29 California Supreme Court ruling that said Miller violated the civil rights of Eileen and Mireya Rodriguez-del Rio when she referred them to another baker for a wedding cake in 2017. Miller explained to the two women that she only designed wedding cakes for couples whose unions conformed to the biblical definition of marriage between one man and one woman.

Miller views her work as an avenue of Christian service, she said upon appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“My love for Jesus Christ calls me to serve others with joy and compassion, and Tastries has been my way of answering that call for over a decade,” Miller said in a press statement. “I’m asking the Court to end California’s harassment once and for all. All I want is to serve my neighbors as the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls me to without being forced to create messages that violate my beliefs.”

Miller, represented by Becket, LiMandri & Jonna LLP, and the Thomas More Society, has battled for eight years the California Department of Civil Rights, which continues to accuse her of violating the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

“California has treated Cathy like an enemy — dragging her through court, smearing her name, and trying to force her to violate her faith,” Becket senior counsel Adèle Keim said of the case, California Department of Civil Rights v. Tastries. “Enough is enough. We’re asking the Court to put a stop to this bullying campaign and let Cathy design in peace. Justice demands no less.”

Miller first won a temporary reprieve in 2018 from a Kern County Superior Court judge, followed by a win in the county court in 2022. But the California Civil Rights Department won a reversal in the California Fifth District Court of Appeals in 2022, which the state supreme court upheld in May.

Charles LiMandri, a partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP, accused the state of forcing Miller to surrender her faith to the state’s political agenda.

“Despite Cathy’s initial victory, appeals by the State of California have now left Cathy’s religious freedom rights hanging in the balance,” LiMandri said. “We are hopeful the U.S. Supreme Court will recognize this injustice and restore her right to live out and practice her faith.”

Among Miller’s written design standards upholding biblical principles, in addition to the biblical definition of marriage, are prohibitions on designs depicting gory or pornographic images, celebrating drug use and depictions demeaning others. After Eileen and Mireya Rodriguez-del Rio filed their initial complaint, Tastries suffered angry social media posts, death threats and harassing emails and phone calls, the business’ attorneys have said.

In similar appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 7-2 opinion in 2018 upheld the right of Colorado baker Jack Phillips to refuse to bake cakes for same-sex couples. But three years later, the court refused to hear the appeal of Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman, whom the state found guilty of discrimination for refusing to create floral designs for the wedding of Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed.

(EDITOR’S  NOTE — Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.)