In March, Faithwire covered the plight of Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, Oregon, who were forced to pay $135,000 after declining to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. On Thursday, the Oregon Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the ruling—and $135,000 fine—that the bakery owners discriminated against the couple by refusing to make them a cake, violating Oregon law. As Faithwire reported, the Kleins’ woes began in 2013 when they declined to bake a cake for
Rachel Cryer-Bowman and Laurel Bowman-Cryer, citing their Christian stance on same-sex nuptials. After a complaint was waged by the couple, the state stepped in and awarded the massive sum of money, claiming the Kleins were guilty of discrimination. Refusing to backdown from their faith and belief that the ruling violated their own religious liberty, the Kleins pushed back against the state’s decision, officially filing an appeals case last year. READ MORE
