Sweet Cakes By Melissa is the Oregon bakery whose owners refused to bake a same-sex couple's wedding cake. The couple took the owners to court and won the case. Oregon is one of the states that provides civil rights protections for gay folks. The judge in the case has proposed a settlement of $135K. So, a GoFundMe account was set up to help raise the funds. However, now GoFundMe has cancelled the account.
From The New Civil Rights Movement:
Friday, after nearly two years in court, an Oregon judge recommended Aaron and Melissa Klein be fined $135,000 for discriminating against a same-sex couple. The Kleins, who own Sweet Cakes by Melissa, had refused to bake a wedding cake for the couple.
On their Facebook page yesterday, the Kleins posted a link to a GoFundMe fundraising campaign set up for them. In just four hours it had reached over $20,000. It quickly increased to a reported $109,000 before GoFundMe canceled it.
Why?
GoFundMe says it does not allow money to be raised on their site for people who have been found to be in violation of the law.
"After careful review by our team, we have found the 'Support Sweet Cakes By Melissa' campaign to be in violation of our Terms and Conditions," GoFundMe said in a statement.
"The money raised thus far will still be made available for withdrawal. While a different campaign was recently permitted for a pizzeria in Indiana, no laws were violated and the campaign remained live. However, the subjects of the 'Support Sweet Cakes By Melissa' campaign have been formally charged by local authorities and found to be in violation of Oregon state law concerning discriminatory acts. Accordingly, the campaign has been disabled."
The owners' response:
Update 1:
Thanks to aimai in the comments below for this additional information.
One vastly under-reported aspect of the story was the Bowman-Cryers received death threats after the story gained media attention and their personal contact information was posted to Aaron Klein's personal Facebook page, according to The Oregonian.
Rachel Bowman-Cryer said she and her wife received death threats as media attention and criticism from strangers escalated in the months after the story went national in January 2013.
She said the threats were part of a stream of "hateful, hurtful things" that came after the couple's contact information (home address, phone and email) was posted on Aaron Klein's personal Facebook page. She said she feared for her life and her wife's life.
The death threats and media attention caused the Bowman-Cryers to fear the children they were fostering would be taken away from them, they testified in court.