Remember "Sweet Cakes by Melissa," the Oregon bakery that refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple because Jesus?
They've decided to close their doors, apparently because they think it will be easier to practice hate and discrimination from their house. They no longer wish to run a business accessible to the public, where gay people could actually walk in and expect to get a wedding cake. Rather than practice love, tolerance, or kindness (things that Jesus likes) or even accede to Oregon law, they abruptly closed. They posted a parting shot on their door:
Freedumb! Jesus!
It seems that not everyone is willing to accept the Kleins' definition of religious freedom:
The shop's closing came on the heels of news that the lesbian couple that Klein rejected had filed a complaint with the state, alleging that Sweet Cakes by Melissa discriminated against them based on their sexual orientation, according to Oregon Live.
In response to the complaint, the bakery's co-owner Melissa Klein argued that turning away the couple was "definitely not discrimination at all."
"We don't have anything against lesbians or homosexuals," she said in August. "It has to do with our morals and beliefs. It's so frustrating because we went through all of this in January, when it all came out."
Source.
Apparently, mean people targeted these "good Christians':
“There’s a lot of close-minded people out there that would like to pretend to be very tolerant and just want equal rights,” Aaron said. “But on the other hand, they’ve been very, very mean-spirited. They’ve been militant. The best way I can describe it is they’ve used mafia tactics against the business. Basically, if you do business with Sweet Cakes [by Melissa], we will shut you down.”
(Emphasis mine)
Uh...what? Who is being "close-minded'? Who is "pretending to be tolerant'? By just "wanting equal rights'? No, it's not the godly Christians whose minds are closed, whose hearts are filled with intolerance...nope. And they're not mean-spirited either. Denying two ladies who love each other a wedding cake isn't mean. No, it's the Christian thing to do!
And the Kleins were shocked:
Melissa Klein reiterated what her husband said, adding, “I don’t want to shove it down anyone else’s throat or anything like that… I would hope to have the same respect, you know, that things don’t have to be shoved on me and force me to do something I don’t want to do.” “I hope that if nothing else, we’ve given people that believe the way we believe the strength to stand up,” Aaron added. “I believe that we’re living in a time that’s very hostile towards Christians. Our First Amendment rights are being stripped away and I’m willing to stand up and take this fight.” The Kleins said they have appreciated the number of people showing their support in light of the controversy. “The support the people have sent us means a lot and it’s very encouraging, the things that people send us,” said Melissa. “We really appreciate it, so I would love people to know that — from everywhere — thank you so much.”
Source.
They just really don't like teh gays because Jesus and the Bible, but all of these are A-OK:
To test out which religious convictions would cause the shop to refuse business, Willamette Week called up the shop and asked them to make cakes for divorce, out-of-wedlock children, human stem cell research and a pagan solstice (with a pentacle design requested for the cake). All requests were responded to positively, with price quotes.
As for all that support on Facebook...
While the Facebook page was once a contentious space, with arguments back and forth, comments expressing negative views of Sweet Cakes have since been removed, leaving mostly pictures of cakes.
A comment with a different point of view was nonetheless posted at 9 am today on Sweet Cakes' Facebook: "Back in the Jim Crow era, white businesses would say "We are not discriminating. Stop trying to force us to do things that are against our beliefs! There are plenty of other business out that that can and will serve them."
That comment has been removed.
Source.
Good riddance. I wonder if they need a commercial kitchen or permits to bake their cakes at home?
Sorry, this was a quick, quote-heavy diary because I'm tired and it's late. Will be back tomorrow morning =)