Anti-gay marriage Oregon bakery defies state order to pay damages to couple

[n2doc]

The owners of a Portland-area bakery are refusing to pay $135,000 in state-ordered damages to a same-sex couple who were denied service, despite a crowdfunding effort on their behalf having raised more than $500,000.

Melissa and Aaron Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, cited religious beliefs when they refused to bake a wedding cake for Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer more than two years ago.

State labor commissioner Brad Avakian awarded the damages in July for emotional suffering, saying the owners had violated the women’s civil rights by discriminating on the basis of their sexual orientation.

The Kleins have filed an appeal of the ruling and are defying the order to pay. They are claiming financial hardship despite the crowdfunding efforts on their behalf, the Oregonian newspaper reported.

The couple closed the Gresham store in 2013 and now operate the business from home.

more
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/01/anti-gay-marriage-oregon-bakery-refuses-to-pay

[LostOne4Ever]

1. What bullshit. They should go to prison for defying the court order. nt

[Saviolo]

2. It's amazing to me how this narrative has shifted

They are not being fined for refusing the bake a cake for a lesbian couple, they are being fined because they released the names and home address of the couple to their followers on Facebook, causing a great deal of backlash to the couple from the community.

http://www.thefrisky.com/2015-07-10/anti-gay-oregon-bakers-were-not-actually-fined-135000-for-refusing-to-make-a-gay-wedding-cake/
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2015/07/11/the-truth-about-the-oregon-wedding-cake-case

It's amazing that the narrative has shifted away from the actual damage to the couple because of the shop's negligence or pettiness.