By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Candace Cameron's Gay Friends Love Her Even As She Defends Anti-Gay Bakery
Actress Candace Cameron Bure is defending her defense of the Oregon bakers who refused to provide a cake for a lesbian couple’s wedding, but a closer look at the details of the case reveals the business owners added quite a bit of insult to the couple’s injury.
In an episode of The View last Tuesday, Bure, a conservative Christian, argued with fellow cohost Raven-Symoné over the case involving Sweet Cakes by Melissa, which has been ordered by an Oregon state agency to pay $135,000 in damages to the couple, Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer.
Bure contended that Sweet Cakes owners Aaron and Melissa Klein weren’t discriminating against the couple for their sexual orientation but simply didn’t want to be involved in their wedding, which conflicted with the Kleins’ Christian beliefs — a distinction her cohost didn’t buy. Nor, for that matter, did the state of Oregon.
(RELATED: Raven Symone's Eye Rolls at Candace Cameron Bure Over Anti-Gay Bakery Are Everything)
The next day Bure appeared on The Church Boys, a podcast on right-wing pundit Glenn Beck’s Blaze media network, and said she received support from gay friends for her stance. “My favorite part were all the texts that I got from my … very close gay friends that were saying, ‘We love you and we can all have different opinions, and you fight for what you believe in and I’m going to fight for what I believe in,’” she said. She also said she and Raven-Symoné hugged during a commercial break after their dustup and agreed to disagree. You can listen to the podcast here.
The order from the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which became final this month, shows the Kleins did a bit more than refuse to bake the wedding cake. After Rachel Bowman-Cryer’s mother, Cheryl McPherson, complained to Aaron Klein, he quoted her a Bible verse that describes homosexuality as “an abomination.” He also posted a copy of the couple’s legal complaint on the Sweet Cakes Facebook page, with their home address visible. This led to hateful comments and threats on social media and news websites, the couple testified.
In the end, the labor bureau decided the media attention didn’t merit extra damages being awarded to the couple, but set the $75,000 award to Rachel Bowman-Cryer, who was present with her mother when the bakery turned down their business, and $60,000 to Laurel Bowman-Cryer, who was not present, as compensation for emotional suffering resulting from denial of services. This is not a “fine or civil penalty,” Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian wrote in the July 2 order, but is fair compensation for the harm the couple suffered, which they proved in the hearings on the matter.
What Sweet Cakes’ owners did, Avakian wrote, “was more than the denial of the product”; it was a denial of the couple’s right to participate equally in society. “It was the epitome of being told there are places you cannot go, things you cannot do … or be,” he wrote.
Oh, and as for Bure’s argument about the case, also made by the Kleins: Avakian wrote, “Respondents claim they are not denying service because of Complainants’ sexual orientation but rather because they do not wish to participate in their same sex wedding ceremony. The forum has already found there to be no distinction between the two.”
The Kleins can appeal the order to the Oregon Court of Appeals, and they have vowed to do so, but “assuming the appeal is accepted, it could be months or even years before it reaches the appellate court,” Portland’s Oregonian reports.
Have you liked us on Facebook?
