SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Support, criticism for Oregon baker who won’t make a wedding cake for lesbian couple
Feb 4, 2013, 6:11 PM | Updated: Feb 5, 2013, 3:59 pm
Aaron and Melissa Klein, who run a small family bakery in Oregon, say they've gotten "overwhelming" support after refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple because of their Christian faith. A Food Network cake star has offered to make the couple's cake for free. (Sweet Cakes by Melissa Facebook photo)
(Sweet Cakes by Melissa Facebook photo)
The owner of an Oregon bakery who didn’t want to make a wedding cake for a same sex couple says he’s being vilified because of his personal views about marriage.
The dispute involves a Portland woman, her fiancee and fiancee’s mother. The mom and one of the brides-to-be went to Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham to order a cake.
Parties involved have now retained lawyers and won’t talk about the incident, but one of the women told The Oregonian newspaper the baker refused to take their cake order.
Aaron Klein, who runs the bakery with his wife, reportedly called the lesbian couple “abominations unto the lord.”
Klein denies calling the couple “abominations” and says same-sex marriage goes against his Christian faith, so he does not want to make a wedding cake for the couple.
The bakery owners’ beliefs are not hidden. The Sweet Cakes website has a Bible verse on the homepage.
They also state: “We here at Sweet Cakes strongly believe that when a man and woman come together to be joined as one, it is truly one of the most special days of their lives.”
The bakery was closed Monday, but supporters plan to show up at the shop Tuesday when it opens. In an email, the owner says the response to his decision has been “overwhelming.”
“I am in full support,” says Debby Tiner through Facebook. The bakery owner is “standing up for his God given rights to believe in the word of God. Amen to him.”
“What ever happened to ‘We have the right to refuse service to anyone?’ Read the Bible and see what God has to say about this issue,” says Harriet Perigo.
“If he doesn’t want to accept their order then why should he have to? Go somewhere else to get your cake made, says Ruth Townsend. “It’s a no-brainer.”
Meanwhile, Duff Goldman, of the Food Network show, “Ace of Cakes,” says he will make a cake for the Portland couple for free. Goldman, who owns Charm City Cakes, also says he’ll personally drive it up from Los Angeles and deliver it for their wedding.
In a video on the Huffington Post, Goldman says he wanted to “right a wrong.”
The Oregon attorney general’s office is investigating a complaint against the bakery because of a state law that declares it is a violation for a business to deny full and equal accommodations for customers based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and other factors.
By LINDA THOMAS
