On Monday, a California superior court judge upheld a baker's free speech to refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding in a case that echoes a similar matter before the U.S. Supreme Court. The judge argued that the case is not about discrimination against same-sex couples but about free speech.

Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe ruled against the state of California's request to force Cathy Miller, owner of Tapestries Bakery in Bakersfield, to create a same-sex wedding cake or to stop making wedding cakes at all.

"The State is not petitioning the court to order defendants to sell a cake," Lampe wrote. "The State asks this court to compel Miller to use her talents to design and create a cake she has not yet conceived with the knowledge that her work will be displayed in celebration of a marital union her religion forbids. For this court to force such compliance would do violence to the essentials of Free Speech guaranteed under the First Amendment."

Last August, Eileen Del Rio and Mireya Rodriguez requested Miller bake them a cake for their same-sex wedding. Eileen Rodriguez-Del Rio (who changed her name after the wedding) claims Miller denied her request, saying, "I don't condone same-sex marriages and will have no part in the process."

Rodriguez-Del Rio filed a complaint with the state's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), claiming Miller had violated California's anti-discrimination laws. The DFEH filed a motion to order Miller to endorse same-sex weddings by making celebratory cakes, or to cease creating any wedding cake.

"Everyone is God's creation and I love everyone," Miller told KERO-TV Bakersfield, "but there are certain things that violate my conscience, and my conscience will not allow me to participate in things that I feel are wrong. Most of what that's based on is scripture."

Miller said she does not believe same-sex marriage is true marriage according to the Bible, and therefore would not create same-sex wedding cakes, as doing so would imply support for same-sex marriage.

The Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund (FCDF) represented Miller pro bono in the case. Charles LiMandri, FCDF's president and chief counsel, explained why the baker's refusal to craft a same-sex wedding cake was not discrimination.

"Cathy gladly serves everyone who walks through her bakery’s doors, including same-sex couples," LiMandri explained. "But she should not be forced by the government to express messages that conflict with her sincerely held religious beliefs. We are pleased the judge recognized that the First Amendment protects Cathy’s freedom of speech."

Miller's case echoes that of Jack Phillips, owner of the Colorado bakery Masterpiece Cakeshop. In 2012, a gay couple asked him to bake a wedding cake for their same-sex wedding, and he refused. On the same day, he offered to bake any other kind of cake for them.