State Sen. Kevin Lundberg told a KLZ radio audience Dec. 12 that he relates to the Colorado baker who, by court order, must bake a cake for a gay wedding even though the baker says it violates his Christian beliefs.
"I actually do some photography, and I've shot a few weddings," Lundberg said on the radio, explaining that a similar case involved a wedding photographer in another state. "And I can see a very close parallel between baking a cake for a wedding or shooting pictures for a wedding. And I can tell you that there's no way I could enter into shooting a wedding without doing my best to condone everything that occurred there." [BigMedia emphasis]
"You're trying to get the best [photo] shots," Lundberg continued. "You're trying to tell the story. And you're trying to promote the event. You've been hired by the couple, by the family, to make this statement. To do a wedding cake, it's not just a cake. It's a very strong symbol of the ceremony and the process that's occurring."
Asked if he'd photograph a gay wedding, Lundberg later told me in a telephone interview that it would "depend on the circumstances." He didn't specify what those circumstances would be, saying instead that it's a moot point because he's not doing this type of photography these days.
Lundberg, a Republican, appeared on KLZ to express his displeasure with Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, who told Lundbergduring a legislative hearing last week that his office would continue to side with the gay couple, not the baker, because Colorado's public accommodation law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.
"This baker considers it an artistic statement when he's baking a wedding cake," Lundberg said on air. "Somebody said, 'Come on. It's just a cake.' Well, the business is actually called Masterpiece Bakeshop. It's quite obvious they consider their bakery items a work of art. And if that isn't something that would qualify under freedom of speech, I'm not sure what would."
In his summary-judgment ruling against the Masterpiece baker, Colorado Administrative Law Judge Robert Spencer addressses Lundberg's argument as well as others in favor of the baker that you find floating around the talk-radio airwaves. Read his decision here. The complaint against the baker was initially filed by the ACLU of Colorado.
"Some legislators would insist, 'Keep your religion out of the State House,'" Lundberg told KLZ guest host Stacy Petty, going beyond the wedding-cake issue. "Well, I would say to them, 'Keep your worldview out of the State House.' And what do we have left? Nothing."