The Washington Post reports that Aaron and Melissa Klein — the owners of the Sweetcakes by Melissa bakery who were ordered to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple — have been sending a gift package to LGBT groups “to show that they care.”
The couple baked 10 cakes and drove them to California, where they worked with Ray Comfort — a Christian author and TV host who recently released Audacity, a film about homosexuality. Their goal was to send a message to lesbian and gay couples: despite theological differences, they still love them.
“We had been speaking to Ray about the movie,” Melissa Klein told The Blaze, “and Ray came up with the idea — ‘What about sending [gay rights groups] cakes?’ And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that is such an amazing idea.’”
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After meeting with Comfort, The Kleins sent the cakes out to various LGBT groups along with a letter, a $25 gift card, and a copy of Audacity with each package. The 8″ cakes are topped by white, red, and blue frosting swirls, with a heart in the center that reads “We really do love you!” The patriotic color scheme was a deliberate choice to represent American freedom.
“We’re doing it in hopes that they can hopefully see [how] to understand us as being Christian, and why we believe the way we do — and why we do the things we do,” Ms. Klein said.
“They don’t understand the things we do. We wanted to have the cake represent freedom — that we all should have freedom and to live our lives the way we want to. But I also feel like I should have the right to live the way I want to, and that should be my choice.”
In 2013, the Kleins refused to make a wedding cake for lesbian couple Rachel-Cryer Bowman and Laurel Bowman-Cryer.
