The Oregon bakery whose owners refused
to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple is touting an “ex-gay”
ministry.
Sweet Cakes by Melissa, located in
Gresham, earlier this year was found guilty of violating the state's
2007 law prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations based on
sexual orientation.
Aaron Klein, who owns the shop with his
wife Melissa Klein, declined to make the cake for the women on
January 17, 2013. Klein said he does not hate gays but that making a
cake for a gay wedding would violate his faith. (At the time, Oregon
had the nation's most robust domestic partnership law. Following a
federal judge's ruling in May, 2014, Oregon became the 18th
state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.)
The bakery posted
on Facebook a photo of five cakes made for the Restored Hope
Network, a Christian conservative group that believes gay people can
– and should – alter their sexual orientation.
“Cakes for Restored Hope Network.
What a wonderful ministry!” the photo's caption reads.
Restored Hope is helmed by Anne Paulk,
whose former husband, John Paulk, has renounced the “ex-gay”
ministry he founded, Love Won Out. Anne continues to promote
so-called “conversion therapy.”
In a recent interview, she compared
identifying as gay to being stuck in a “roach motel.”
“The argument is you're born gay and
therefore you can't change. It's like … a roach motel. Really, is
that what they have to offer? Is that there is no possibility of
change, there's no possibility of any other identity. And for some
that actually is so depressing that they consider suicide,” Paulk
said.
Paulk said she was “thrilled” with
the cakes and lamented that the “Godly couple” had been “targeted by
gay activists and those who claim that gay marriage won't have any
impact on other people.”