Couple takes up cake offer from celebrity baker Duff Goldman
PORTLAND, Ore. – The lesbian couple who was denied a wedding cake at Gresham bakery has taken up the offer from a celebrity baker to make them an alternate cake.
Duff Goldman from the TV show “Ace of Cakes” heard about the story last week and decided to offer up his services free of charge to the couple.
“I saw this story and I thought, ‘Hey, I can do something,’” Goldman told the Huffington Post when he made the offer. “I will make the cake for free, drive it up to Portland just to right this wrong.”
The couple put out a statement through their lawyer on Friday afternoon.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from friends, family, members of the LGBT community, and our allies,” they said. The couple has declined to publicize their names. “We are especially thankful that LGBT-supportive companies have graciously offered their services to make our special day perfect.”
The two women had already ordered one cake from another local bakery. Not wanting to break that contract, they will serve Goldman’s cake in addition to a cake from Pastrygirl.
Sweet Cakes by Melissa, the bakery that originally declined to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, is under investigation by the state to see if they broke an Oregon anti-discrimination law.
The bakery’s owner, Aaron Klein, told KATU that he wouldn’t make a cake for a same-sex couple because of his religious beliefs.
 I remember a time in American history when certain people of "color" were made to use different bath rooms - refused service in most public places or were sent to their own "section" . This reminds me of that history in our society and it's social structure.
IMO we are going through a social evolution in acceptance of people.
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It is a real shame that what type of marriage was the deciding factor for this business owner. It is the same as refusing service because of your skin color, age or social status.
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Blessings to the happy couple and now they have a story to go with their union - kinda cool actually - when you look at it from how it all ended point of view because it did turn out to be a big positive for the couple. A negative turned positive - I like that.
I still strongly disagree with the bakery's (owner's) stance. For one thing, do they screen everybody and hold pre-marriage counseling to make sure that all of the cakes they bake are going to couples whom they approve of and think that the marriage will last? Or did they single this couple out based on one characteristic that they didn't like (aka discrimination)?
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Another point, they were hired to provide a service. Their service (or lack thereof) had no effect on the marriage itself. If they were being asked to officiate the ceremony, or otherwise participate in the ceremony, I could see where their individual beliefs could reasonable prevent them from doing that duty. They, however, were only asked to provide a service. Not unlike the people who sell the flowers, provide the service or chairs or any other numerous items that might be at the wedding. Bottom line, after they make the cake and sell it, they have no right to say how it might or might not be used. They are not doctors handing out medication that could prove fatal. If somebody wanted to buy a cake from them and use it in a pagan ceremony where they dance naked under the moon and eat cake, then it doesn't reflect on the baker's beliefs (just his ability to make a cake that others enjoy).
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Finally, I STRONGLY object to "Christians" (in quotes because I was raised a Christian and I was taught to love others) trying to claim marriage as something of their own. From everything that I've been able to read, the institution of marriage predates Christ... by quite a bit! Marriages have, and are, celebrated in many different cultures. Sometimes the marriages are sacred to a particular deity, other times they are not. There is NOT a single religion out there who can claim ownership of the idea, word, or institution of marriage. It does not belong solely to Christianity, nor to any other religion. Just because a particular belief system doesn't recognize the validity of the commitment, doesn't mean the commitment is invalid. Just as a decent human wouldn't go up to a Jew or an Indian (or anybody else) and tell them that the marriage they had, that was unique to their cultural and spiritual beliefs, wasn't valid; it is just as wrong to try and tell any two individuals that their marriage isn't valid because it doesn't match your ideology.
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*steps off from soap box*
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Oh, I forgot, I don't "hate" them or anyone else, just for you haters of record.
Unbelievable, they got their free cake, so go away, mind your own business, and tell all your friends to shop somewhere else. You got more press that the President. Well that may not be so bad.
That's ridiculous that the owner of the bakery might be in trouble for not making the cake because of his beliefs? Â It's his business, he has the right to serve whomever he wants to. Â Every other business has that right, and most have a sign hanging up in their windows to say so. Â Why do lesbians choose to believe what they believe but we are forced to accept it, instead of getting the same choice. Â Ridiculous.
 @tigereyes If you feel that a business has a right to refuse service to anyone that goes against it's religious beliefs we'd have a mess on our hands. If you own a business and are open to the public you have to put your religious beliefs aside.
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#1Â I won't sell you gas because you must be a gay couple because both of you are the same sex
#2Â You can't buy food from me because you could be serving it at a church I don't believe in
#3Â I'm not going to sell you clothes because you are too short..or too tall as my religion see's that as an adbomination because you are not "perfect"
#4Â I hate everyone so I'm not going to sell to you until you hate everyone too
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I take it you have never operated a business or you would have not made the comments you did?
 @tigereyes You really need to educate yourself on the laws a business owner has to abide by when he/she/they have a business open to the public. A business owner just can't say I'm not making you a cake or selling you a car because you are different and I don't like the way you are different because it goes against my religion
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I'm sure there must be thousands of atheist business owners who still sell to christian customers even though they don't like their "christian belief"?Â
 @tigereyes replace gay couple with racially mixed couple...discrimination is discrimination that's why.Â
@tigereyes ---No species has been found in which homosexual behaviour has not been shown to exist, with the exception of species that never have sex at all, such as sea urchins and aphis. Moreover, a part of the animal kingdom is hermaphroditic, truly bisexual. For them, homosexuality is not an issue.
Homosapien sapien/neanderthal homosexuality (sexual orientation to the same sex) is as natural as mother nature intended and therefore as impossible to avoid as the color of our skin, the aging of our skin, where we are born and or raised, our gender, which house of worship our guardians bring us too, and the fate of being born or damaged with an impairment.
I think that is why the US has 18 states where refusing service to gay people is illegal: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, OREGON, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin (also in the District of Columbia).
 @tigereyes Putting a sign up in a window saying you have the right to do something doesn't mean you do. While business can refuse service to any person, it CANNOT be for just any reason. Typically, the reason must be something along the lines of hygiene or causing a disruption. It certainly cannot be because of gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.Â
 @tigereyes Only THEIR rights count apparently.  Good for the bakery for standing on MORALS.  See, someone else made them their cake.  Now we can all go and patronize Sweet Cakes!!! Â
 @tigereyes Totally! I mean, if a business wants to deny service to people because of their sexuality, race, gender, disability.... why shouldn't they be allowed to? It's their business, right? Oh, wait, they can't, BECAUSE IT'S ILLEGAL. Apparently you forgot that little bit of civil rights law. If you want to operate a public business, you have to serve... the public... without discrimination.
 @roadrunner  @tigereyes Unless they reserve the RIGHT to refuse service to anyone they want to.  Apparently the rights of the owners are not the same as the lesbians.  There are lots of places they can get a cake--why even Hollyweird has stepped up to make them a cake. Â
@RedHeads4Romney @roadrunner @tigereyes ---I will bet that our "Hollyweird" gentleman would be the first to drop anything he was doing to run and hold the door open for a customer trying to enter his business in a wheel chair, too.
 @RedHeads4Romney Feel free to reference where in the law they have that "right." Slapping a sign up does not grant you extra rights. Having a business open to the public is a PRIVILEGE that comes with restrictions.Â
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 @tigereyes Have you ever been denied service because of who you are? See how it feels. Then you would not feel the way you do. If it is a public place. Then he should service the Public.
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Believe me I have felt it and is not a good feeling. I hope one day it happens to you. Then you will know how they feel
Very nice. Instead of focusing on the conflict, nice to see others resolving the conflict. All of us have the power to vote with our feet, regardless of the law, and have a nice wedding. Kudos to Duff Goldman!