CV NEWS FEED // Critics panned a Thursday X (formerly Twitter) post by Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James that advanced a pro-LGBTQ talking point about a well-known Christian-owned bakery.
James’ post was also fact-checked by the social media app’s user-driven content moderation feature, Community Notes.
“Masterpiece Cakeshop, a Colorado bakery, refused to make a customer a cake when they found out it was to celebrate her transition,” James wrote from her government X account.
She claimed that the “bakery has discriminated against LGBTQ+ people before,” adding that she is “urging the Colorado Supreme Court to stop this transphobic discrimination.”
“It’s not complicated,” James continued. “[D]enying services to someone simply because of who they are is discrimination, and it’s illegal.”
“I will always fight to protect the rights of our LGBTQ+ community and any community that faces discrimination or hate or any kind,” James claimed.
Community Notes quickly issued a fact check on James’ post, stating:
The same customer also asked for a cake with a cake topper described as “a large figure of Satan, licking a 9″ black dildo…an actual working model, that can be turned on before we unveil the cake.”
The fact check service cited a 2018 Newsweek article that explained the activist’s requests shortly after the time he made them.
Newsweek then reported that in addition to the “transition” cake, the customer also “claimed to be a devil worshipper and wanted the devout Christian [Masterpiece owner] to create a cake to celebrate Satan’s birthday.”
The report continued:
Newsweek reached out to a few prominent Denver-based bakeries, and while all said they would be ok with the transgender blue-icing cake with pink batter, all but one said baking Satan licking a dildo was going too far.
James’ post received several critical replies that garnered more “likes” than the original post. The internet community often refers to this phenomenon as a “ratio.”
Journalist Mollie Hemingway wrote to James: “Your hatred of the First Amendment aligns with your hatred of other parts of rule of law.”
“You are a bad person,” Hemingway added.
X owner Elon Musk also weighed in, writing, “Community Notes [for the win] again.”
As of 3:00 PM ET on Friday, James’ post had around 3,600 “likes.” Hemingway’s reply had over 7,300 “likes,” despite the fact that she had posted it eight and a half hours after the attorney general’s original post.
Musk’s comment meanwhile garnered over 9,000 “likes.” Musk posted it more than a half day after James’ post.
>> CATHOLICVOTE CALLES ON AG JAMES TO PROSECUTE ‘TRANS’ ACTIVISTS FOR CATHEDRAL INVASION <<
Masterpiece is best known for being a party in the landmark 2018 Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado. Observers hailed the Court’s decision in favor of the bakery as a victory for religious freedom.
The case arose after Christian Masterpiece owner Jack Phillips declined to bake a cake celebrating a same-sex “marriage.” The state of Colorado Civil Rights Commission demanded that he bake cakes that violate his religious beliefs.
However, in a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court held that Colorado violated Phillips’ First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.
