Bakery under investigation draws supporters, protesters
GRESHAM, Ore. – People on both sides of a controversy over a wedding cake showed up to speak their minds in Gresham on Saturday.
A baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple is the subject of a state investigation.
Two women protested the decision Saturday by giving away free cupcakes outside Sweet Cakes bakery and holding signs that said “tolerance is sweet” and “don’t hate, let them eat cake.”
“We just thought that was really hurtful and we feel like we should be out here taking a stand,” said protester Rachel Oleson. “We’re not going to go along with that type of hate.”
“We’ve talked to gay people and lots of allies in this neighborhood, and just so they know that shop and those views aren’t the only ones that are around,” said Kim Crane.
The Oregon Equality Act of 2007 prohibits discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The statute includes public accommodations, such as businesses. Oregon Attorney General's civil enforcement officers are looking into whether Aaron Klein broke the law when he denied the couple a cake.
“I apologized for wasting their time and said we don’t do same-sex marriages,” Klein said Friday. I “honestly did not mean to hurt anybody, didn’t mean to make anybody upset, [it’s] just something I believe in very strongly.”
Supporters flocked to the bakery as well. Klein said Saturday was one of his busiest days ever.
“We’ll be coming here as long as they’re here,” said Miya Shalashov, who supports Klein’s decision. “We’ll buy everything.”
“[There was] pretty much a line out the door since 9:30 this morning before we opened,” Klein said. “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing all day long.”
The Portland couple who filed the complaint against Sweet Cakes asked for privacy Saturday, but their lawyer told KATU News that they appreciate the support they’ve received.
Klein said he doesn’t care about the publicity.
“It comes down to one thing plain and simple,” he said. “This is what I believe. This is my religious faith.
“The initial rush may wane, we’ll see how that plays out, but again, like I said, I’m willing to take this as far as it needs to go to stand up for what I believe in.”
Check out Melissa's racist rant on facebook. Its amazing. http://www.examiner.com/article/sweet-cakes-by-melissa-posts-racist-rant-on-facebook?cid=db_articles
The owner of Sweet cakes was following Oregon law that doesn't allow same sex marriage. Had they wanted any product other than a wedding cake they would have been served eagerly. The gay lifestyle is an abomination according to any Christian bible.Â
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Leviticus 20:13
New International Version (NIV)
13Â ââIf a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable.They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
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My support is for the business. "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21). God's law trumps the state of Oregon, period. - Bob
 @bobmielke BZZZZZT.  Wrong.  Dead wrong.
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Please cite the ORS that makes selling wedding cakes without a wedding license illegal.
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No one in the legal system cares about your fairy tales. Â They carry no weight in courts - render unto Caesar what is Caesar's.
Tattoos and pierced ears are absolutely forbidden by God in Leviticus. He is a fraud.
More power to him, this is HIS business and he has the right to refuse service to anyone and in this case it's his right as his belief in his religion this transaction is wrong. there's plenty of other bakery's that most likely will do the job so leave this man the hell alone.Â
That woman who said she would shop there all the time? She has already changed her mind. The dude in the video released an incredibly disgusting rant on their official facebook page.
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"F_ _ k the N_ _ gers, Spics, whores, sodimites, fat b_ _ches, ugly c_ _ ts, hypocritical hoes and overweight hippos on our feed. We try so hard to bake cakes and all you ungrateful bullies hate on me and my beautiful family after these articles were written, shame on you! If you don't like our busineess then don't stop by! More cake for our fellow Christians!"
 @Caprica Link please
@dblshot@Caprica http://www.examiner.com/article/sweet-cakes-by-melissa-posts-racist-rant-on-facebook?cid=db_articles
I have a message for Duff Goldmann, The Oregon Attorney Generals Office and anyone else that approves of the practice of homosexuallity (Ro 1:32). Romans 1:26-32, The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Galations 5:20, I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
@faciemusCheck out the lady's racist rant on facebook. Do you still like her? http://www.examiner.com/article/sweet-cakes-by-melissa-posts-racist-rant-on-facebook?cid=db_articles
 @faciemus www.godisimaginary.com
 @faciemus Yada yada, we've been hearing the same threats about Homosexuality for thousands of years, Massachusetts still seems to be standing.  God won't do diddly-squat.  Imaginary friends rarely do.
Insanity: talking to people that don't exist.
Religion: talking to a god that doesn't exist.
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You can call it a religion, but in the end, you're still listening to voices in your head.
Can't he just re-refuse them for any reason other than them being gay? This isn't power, water, gas, etc...
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He should have the right to do that, even though it's a terrible thing to do.
 @kiefy Indeed!  Had he kept his mouth shut, it'd be on them to prove discrimination.  Giving a reason was an *incredibly* stupid thing to do (and that's *exactly* what his attorney told him in private, your attorney will always tell you to STFU and let them handle it).
The only way I would ever understand this is if the christians took this attitude with each and every other form of sin out there. Rapists, murderers, idolaters, adulterers, gluttons, and each and every other sin mentioned in the bible. Cake boy would also need to remove his earrings.
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But the fact of the matter is that christians are not taking this approach as we are not reading about them at all. The ONLY demographic they are selectively applying their "religious belief" argument for discrimination are the gays.
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If someone has a link to prove me wrong, please post. But from what I am seeing, the christians are the aggressors and their target is the gay demographic.
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The bully does not want their ability to bully taken away and examples like this are when the bully does not appreciate with the victim stands up to them. They cite their protections as reference for their continued bullying.
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Christians are not the target. I have never read of a circumstance where a christian was refused service due to another's "religious belief". Christians are free to practice their faith unhindered in this country and do not suffer any refusal for public accomodation. Yet in recent times, it has almost become a badge of honor for christians to with full intent bully on the gays as leverage to secure this right within secular law.
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Again - I would like to see evidence where a gay business treats a christian in this manner. I have yet to read any instance where a christian was refused public accomodation in any business sector in this same identical way. This aggression is quite clear from a segment of the christian community. It does not focus on ALL sin, just the gay community. Again - I think it would be different if it applied to ALL sins, but it does not. If strictly focuses on the gay demographic.
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For cake boy: âYou shall not make ANY CUTTINGS IN YOUR FLESH for the dead, nor TATTOO ANY MARKS on you: I am the Lordâ (Leviticus 19:28) If the cake boy wants to argue this passage, then he needs to disregard other passages in Leviticus which he is holding this gay couple to. Not doing so is cherry picking and using god's word to cause harm to another.
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Cake boy is in serious trouble, maybe not from civil law, but from the same law he is using to judge and condemn others through his actions. He needs to 1) repent, 2) ditch his earrings, and 3) make ammends to those he intentionally cause harm to. If he does not, he is not a true follower of christ.
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His actions will show the type of person and believer he truly is.
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This is his law, not mine. I find it quite sad that a gay man has to remind him of his duty and responsibility to the lord his god.
AFTER this story broke, this is what Aaron Klein posted on his FB business page regarding Sweet Cakes by Melissa:
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"About: A Christian valued run bakery. No Homosexuals, Divorced couples, promiscuous women, interracial couples, transgendered, LGBT, Muslims, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist or any other religion besides Christianity. Our beliefs are protected by the First Amendment!"
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He removed it after the public got wind of it. Â If this is someone you want to support, more power to you, but this is abhorrent behavior.Â
@Sundowner He only did this to show that he discriminates against other people as well. If he did not, then it would show that he deliberately discriminated against the lesbian couple. It was with full intention to mitigate the damage he caused.
Isn't the notion of building exclusively "heterosexual cakes" sort of ironic?  Or that simply building a cake and frosting it and delivering it to a gay couple somehow equates to an endorsement of a lifestyle which might threaten to undermine a particular faith? It's a silly baked good; nobody asked Cake boy for an endorsement of gay marriage, to preside over the ceremony, or even to give a toast at the reception. All he had to do was bake a silly cake....I don't mean to minimize the importance of that cake to the happy couple...and collect some bread in exchange but Cake boy had to interject his social/political views into a simple commercial transaction and; thereby, by his own admission he ran afoul of Oregon Law by infringing on the rights of the happy couple.  Mazel tov!
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So this Duff McBakerguy wants to bake them a cake. Wow, great, there you go. So now that the happy couple gets their wedding cake, do they get to spend the rest of their life holding protests against someone who doesn't endorse their lifestyle? Let it go already, move on. So now the whole big Portland gay community knows not to buy anything there. Yay. Porltand, that'll show him. So the guy doesn't think that being gay is all that great. Why should any of you care? Are his little pisant personal views going to keep you all from getting married? Come on now. We already know that it's more about the drama than the lifestyle. Prove me wrong.
What's next? A fur protest?
Dude - it's not about endorsement. It's not about acceptance. It is about being treated just like everyone else.
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You should not have to worry about walking into a public business and getting different treatment that every other person walking in.
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Personally - if it were me - I could care less if cake boy accepts me. It does not matter to my life or how I live it what he believes or feels. But in the public arena, he needs to treat me just like every other patron to his establishment. Just as I may not agree with his beliefs - I must do the same if he were to come to my place of business.
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Biblically speaking... "do unto others..."   It does not say "Judge others...."
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Not only did he fail civil law, but he most importantly is failing his religious beliefs and the laws he is bound to by his faith in christ.
 @Mr. Carbon Footprint "Are his little pisant personal views going to keep you all from getting married?" Not his alone, but he is not the only one with a pisant opinion. Pisant opinions like his are what is keeping gay people from being able to enter into legally recognized marriage.
@Jody Baker @Mr. Carbon Footprint Jody - LOL  I am from Seattle, and yes, I am getting married to my husband of 18 years regardless of what this person says or does. :-)
Article 3 is up. http://www.katu.com/news/local/Chef-Duff-Goldman-tells-same-sex-couple-hell-bake-cake-for-free-189752471.html
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I have a feeling this guys business is going to thrive....just like chick-fill-a.
Time will tell... The table of the moneychanger. using his faith to bash a demographic and make money. How very christian of him. What other demogrphic can he bash to make more money? Is this the next business trend? Bash and exclude demogrpahics for big profits all while hiding behind religious exemption?
 @Rae0224 @Icarus Then you would support a restaurant that refused to serve a paralyzed child based on their public acknowledgement that they don't serve the handicapped?  You would support a flower shop who refused to sell a dozen roses to a man based on their public acknowledgement that they don't sell to Jews?  There's no way you don't see the discrimination in this.
 @Rae0224  @Icarus Yo -- Rae -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re72di5phM0
 @Rae0224Â
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Woo Hoo...there's lots of bigots in Portland, Yea! If Cake boy stays in business, we win! Just like Chick-a-fill.....we'll show all those homos that we can violate their rights all we want because we're not so gay.Â
Wow. lots of activity since yesterday on this.
A baker who doesn't discriminate against gays steps up to the plate. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/duff-goldman-gay-wedding-cake-offer-oregon-lesbians_n_2617583.html
 @noneofyourbizznessÂ
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That was awesome. The Bakers name is: Duff Goldman...he's Jewish...and he said it was stupid and an embarrassment to his religion for Cake boy to site religion as the reason not to make the cake.  Which is particularly funny...and slightly ironic...because Cake boy is a Christian and cites Ancient Jewish Law to discriminate and a Jew says; "I'll make the damn cake for free and drive it there...from Baltimore...because Cake boy is an idiot."
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I will buy Duff Goldman a pitcher of Portland Beer if he delivers that cake.Â
Gosh, why don't the complainants just go somewhere else. This is really crazy, then a couple of peple outside protesting. Way too much time on their hands. The idea of the state investigating this is absurd. A business should be able to serve or not serve whomever they want.
 @Liberal Larry I agree
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 @Liberal Larry i'm sure that is what all the southern whites said when their White Only lunch counters and shops became the center stage for civil rights. and we are still trying to get equality for everyone in 2013.
 @Liberal LarryÂ
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If the god of the Cake boy issued his business license the that Lesbian Couple would have to get their cake someplace else. But, god doesn't issue licenses and the State that issues licenses says that those are not licenses to violate civil right but only to provide a service like make a cake.Â
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 @Liberal LarryÂ
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That is why Secular Law is better than any of the various flavors of religious law; secular law makes sense...it is rational....and provides everyone the same rights.Â
 @Liberal Larry While I'll grant you can argue they should be able to, the law is quite clear otherwise as to what they *can* legally do.
A young christian family was tragically hit head-on by a drunk driver. Â They all survived, but their adorable 5-year old blue-eyed blond little daughter ended up paralyzed from the waist down (most adults realize what goes along with the disability are catheters and colostomy bags and the resulting smells). Â One day they went up to the Oregon Zoo and had a wonderful time enjoying the fresh air and some family time. Â Afterward, they headed to a little cafe in the Pearl for a late lunch. Â They entered and were waiting for a table when the host told them, "You'll need to head over to Denny's by the Rose Quarter or some other place....we don't serve cripples here -- our customers and staff just get too grossed out". Â Just disgusting.
This didn't really happen, at least to my knowledge. Â But can those who don't give a d**n about the law possibly see how wrong and illegal discrimination can be? Â How devastating it can be to the one(s) discriminated against? Â Nope -- didn't think even that would sink in. Â Pathetic.
 @SundownerÂ
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That was too good of an example...
 @FedÂ
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Yes...it is a funny thing here on the KATU free speech page; you can advocate the most ugly and anti-social and nastiest position/belief and that is totally acceptable but if you choose the wrong word to say: fornicate or tell someone to go make love to them-self in more direct terms then your on-line identity faces the potential for capital punishment and summary execution.
@Icarus @Sundowner @Fed up Fed Yep, I'm sure he'll be back, and I'm sure he saw it coming too. I liked his style, oh well.
 @JTesla  @SundownerÂ
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So they shut @Fed up Fed down?   But he's still listed on the board.Â
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Doesn't really matter; they've kill me before but I just make a new identity and move on.Â
 @JTesla Ridiculous.
@Sundowner Fed. Expunged. They sure don't mess around. Heading for tunnel so keeping it short
 @JTesla Still don't understand what you're saying.
@Icarus @Sundowner I'm talking here in the comment section. Yeah Ron Jeremy is still with us, which is good. I
 @JTesla   Â
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As far as I know Ron Jeremy is still recovering......
 @JTesla ??
@Sundowner @Icarus Speaking of lost in the shuffle... I think we lost a good man today.
 @Icarus I may re-post it later when it gets lost in the shuffle of all this.  This whole thing is so out-of-whack.