Oregon Bakery Refuses To Make Cake For Gay Couple: ‘Business Is Booming’ Despite Controversial Investigation

Gresham, OR – A state investigation is underway after an Oregon bakery owner refused to make a wedding cake for a gay wedding.

While the alleged co-owner of the bakery denied the complaint’s claim that he called the couple an “abomination unto the Lord,” he admits to denying the couple services. The baker, Aaron Klein, stated boldly that he would rather lose his business than deny his faith.

According to reports, however, the bakery hasn’t suffered. In fact, business is booming.

The complaint, filed against Sweet Cakes by Mellissa in Gresham, Oregon, reads in part: “We were then informed that our money was not equal, my fiance reduced to tears. This is absolutely unacceptable.”

Klein admits that he refused the couple’s business on religious grounds.

“I stopped what I was doing, I looked at them and said, ‘I’m sorry I may have wasted your time, we don’t do same-sex marriages,’ ” he said.

Klein said that since the story broke, the phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from supporters all over the nation. The comments have not all been positive, of course. Supporters of gay marriage have flooded the bakery’s Facebook page with negative comments.

Business, according to Klein, was booming over the weekend.

“I just keep trying to tell everybody, ‘It’s not about trying to make some public stunt.’ I’m just extremely convicted about this and this is my belief,” Klein said.

Klein and his wife opened the bakery five years ago and have never kept their religious beliefs a secret. A Bible rests on top of the bakery case, and the Sweet Cakes website says the couple “strongly believe that when a man and women come together to be joined as one, it is truly one of the most special days of their lives.”

Oregon law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, but Klein believes the US constitution will protect him.

“I’m free to exercise my religion however I see fit. I should not be compelled to violate my conscience,” he said. “If I’m told I have to make a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage, I feel that I’m violating my beliefs. I don’t think I should have to do that.”

“I’d rather stand up for what I believe in and what I feel is right and get totally annihilated when it comes in the end than to bow down to this and say ‘go ahead,'” he said. “Because that sets the standard for the next one, the next one, and the next one.”

You can watch the video and hear what Klein has to say about his decision here.

[Image via Shutterstock]