Bakers Who Refuse To Make Cake for Gay Couple Must Finally Pay the Bigot Fine
The owners of a bakery in Oregon have finally agreed to pay state-ordered damages after they refused to serve a same-sex couple last year.
Aaron Klein, a co-owner of the Portland-based bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa, paid $136,000 on Monday, after a two-year battle over the issue. He and his staff had refused to make a wedding cake for same-sex couple Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer, saying that it was against their religious beliefs.
The fine was ordered by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), which claims that the owners’ refusal violates the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
“This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage. It is about a business’s refusal to serve someone because of their sexual orientation. Under Oregon law, that is illegal,” BOLI said in its ruling.
On the Sweet Cakes website, the owners cite a Bible passage that reads: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” In their eyes, that world that God loved so much, apparently, just did not include gay people.
