Friday, July 03, 2015

State Silences Bakers Who Refused to Make Cake for Lesbian Couple, Fines Them $135K

Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian finalized a preliminary ruling today ordering Aaron and Melissa Klein, the bakers who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, to pay $135,000 in emotional damages to the couple they denied service.

“This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage,” Avakian wrote. “It is about a business’s refusal to serve someone because of their sexual orientation. Under Oregon law, that is illegal.”

In the ruling, Avakian placed an effective gag order on the Kleins, ordering them to “cease and desist” from speaking publicly about not wanting to bake cakes for same-sex weddings based on their Christian beliefs.

“This effectively strips us of all our First Amendment rights,” the Kleins, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, which has since closed, wrote on their Facebook page. “According to the state of Oregon we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech.”

Read the rest here.
HT: The Deacon's Bench
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4 comments:

  1. lannes7/03/2015 1:24 PM

    Those bakers should tell Armenian to go and collect the fine from God.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Archer of the Forest7/03/2015 3:20 PM

    I hope they sue the pants off that judge for civil rights violations.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Prior Martin7/03/2015 4:00 PM

    I believe and hope this will provoke a backlash which will give the LGBT community of assorted psychos and perverts a taste of their own medicine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. rabidgandhi7/04/2015 11:30 AM

    Memo to self: new idea for raising a slick $135K...

    ReplyDelete

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