Oregon bakery fined $135,000 for refusing to make gay couple's cake

An Oregon judged ordered a Portland bakery to pay $135,000 in damages because it refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. The bakery owners, citing their religious beliefs, had refused to bake the cake.

An Oregon judge has ruled that the owners of a Portland-area bakery who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple should pay the couple $135,000 in damages, state officials said Tuesday.

Administrative Law Judge Alan McCullough issued a proposed order last week that could mean Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery owners Aaron and Melissa Klein will have to pay $60,000 in damages to Laurel Bowman-Cryer, and $75,000 in damages to Rachel Bowman-Cryer, for emotional suffering.

In 2013, when the two women were planning their nuptials, the Kleins, citing their religious beliefs, refused to bake the cake. The gay couple married in 2014 after a federal judge struck down the state's same-sex marriage ban.

The state's Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) contends the bakery owners violated the state's anti-discrimination laws because the shop is not a registered religious institution.

Both sides of the civil rights case have 10 days to either file an exception to the order, or ask for more time to respond, BOLI spokesman Charlie Burr said.

The order will not be final until Commissioner Brad Avakian issues a final decision on the damages, which could include lowering or raising the amount. His decision is expected by summer.

"Our agency is committed to the fair and thorough enforcement of all Oregon civil rights laws including the equality act of 2007," Burr said.

Under Oregon law, businesses cannot discriminate or refuse service based on sexual orientation.

"The facts of this case clearly demonstrate that the Kleins unlawfully discriminated against the Complainants," BOLI officials said in a statement.

An attorney for the couple, Paul Thompson, said he could not comment on the case because it is still pending. An attorney for the bakery owners could not immediately be reached for comment.

In response to the proposed order, the bakery owners started a GoFundMe campaign, but it was shut down over the weekend by the crowdfunding website, the bakery's Facebook page said.

North Carolina-based religious organization Samaritan's Purse is raising money for the couple in a post on their website entitled: "Help persecuted Christian couple in Oregon fined for refusing to serve lesbians."

The judge's ruling was less than the $150,000 sought by administrative prosecutors and did not propose awarding damages for alleged harm from media coverage of the case.

Meanwhile, a judge in Kentucky on Monday upheld the right of a printing company owned by devout Christians to refuse to produce T-shirts promoting a gay pride festival. As The Christian Science Monitor reported:

The judge cited both free speech and freedom of religion in ruling that the company did not discriminate when it declined to print T-shirts for an event promoting activities offensive to the owners’ religious beliefs.

“There is no evidence in this record that [the company] or its owners refused to print the T-shirts in question based upon the sexual orientation of the GLSO or its members,” he said.

“Rather, it is clear beyond dispute that [the company] and its owners declined to print the T-shirts in question because of the MESSAGE advocating sexual activity outside of a marriage between one man and one woman.”

(Reporting by Shelby Sebens; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Sandra Maler)

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Oregon bakery fined $135,000 for refusing to make gay couple's cake
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2015/0428/Oregon-bakery-fined-135-000-for-refusing-to-make-gay-couple-s-cake
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe