Two Oregon bakers who refused service
to gay couples citing their religious beliefs are not bothered by
other occasions frowned upon by some Christians.
In separate incidents separated by
three months, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham and
Fleur Cakes in Hood River received national media attention after
each refused a request for a wedding cake from a lesbian couple.
(Gay and lesbian couples can enter a domestic partnership in Oregon.)
“We don't do same-sex weddings,”
Aaron Kelin, the owner of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, reportedly told the
couple.
“I believe I have the liberty to live
by my principles,” Pam Regentin, owner of Fleur Cakes, told KATU.
Alternative weekly Willamette Week
contacted each bakery to order cakes for other occasions disapproved
of by some Christians, including divorce and a baby being born out of
wedlock.
When Willamette
Week anonymously inquired about such celebrations, neither
bakery refused service.
“My friend is getting divorced and
we'd like to throw her a little party to mark the start of her life,”
the paper said in contacting the bakeries. “Do you ever write
messages on those – we'd want it to say 'congratulations'! – and
how much would it be for a cake that could serve about eight people?”
“We can definitely do something like
that,” a Sweet Cakes by Melissa representative said.
Fleur Cakes quoted prices then added
that advanced noticed was necessary because “June and July is very
busy.”
Other inquiries included providing
baked goods for celebrations surrounding stem-cell research, a
non-kosher barbecue and a pagan solstice party.