A gay couple in Texas said this week
that a baker cited her faith in refusing to bake them a wedding cake.
Ben Valencia and Luis Marmolejo of
Kilgore, who are planning a March wedding, told the Longview
News-Journal that the experience left them feeling “dehumanized.”
“It just kind of makes you feel
dehumanized,” Valencia said. “People shouldn't have to worry
about going into a business, especially a public business that serves
the public, and have to worry about being turned away for something,
for who you are.”
“I just told them that we didn't
provide wedding cakes for homosexual marriages,” Edie Delorme,
co-owner of Kerns Bake Shop in Longview, told
the paper.
She added that while everyone is
welcome in her bakery, owners should have the right to decide whether
an event lines up with their beliefs and values.
Texas does not have a law that
prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in public
accommodations.