Christian bakers who shut down business after refusing to bake a lesbian wedding cake set to reopen
Melissa and Aaron Klein were forced to shut down Sweet Cakes in Oregon and pay $135,000 in legal penalties are now raising funds to start a new business in Montana.
A pair of Christian bakers who faced $135,000 in legal penalties for refusing to produce a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, will soon be back in business.
Melissa and Aaron Klein, who were forced to shut down Sweet Cakes in Oregon are now raising funds to start a new business while their case is potentially headed to the Supreme Court.
The bakery owners fired up a national controversy in 2013 when they refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, they were later forced to cough up $135,000 in damages in 2015 by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), OregonLive reported.
Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer sued the bakers in 2013. After the Bowman-Cryers filed complaints with the state, BOLI decided that they had been illegally discriminated against and awarded them $135,000 in damages.
Despite having paid the fee, the duo has continued to appeal the case after shuttering their business. Earlier this year, an Oregon appeals court said the fine against the Christian bakers should be reassessed.
“Over the last several years we have been strong as a family and strong as part of our church body. With life’s stresses comes a void that can sometimes be overwhelming. That void for me was my loss of love for baking and the joy that came with that. I’m here to say it never went away but it was a struggle to fall in love with it again,” wrote Melissa Klein in her fundraising description.
“Almost 2yrs ago we moved to Montana. I had said I was never going to open a bakery again, but God has seemed to change my heart with this. It’s been 10 years since having my shop in Oregon and I greatly miss it along with all my sweet customers,” she added, the Daily Wire reported.
According to the Daily Wire, the Kleins are looking for $50,000 to fund the down payment of a new bakery in Montana. The couple has received more than $17,000 toward their goal on Continue to Give.
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