Former bakery owners who 'mentally raped' couple over same-sex wedding cake head to appeals court

Years later, few arguments over religious freedom and the government’s power to force citizens to do something counter to their beliefs come to an end before someone has cited the case of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, the family owned Oregon bakery that was fined out of business after its owners refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.

It might be surprising, then, to learn the case is not yet in the history books; on Thursday, Aaron and Melissa Klein, who shuttered their Gresham, Ore., business in 2013, were at the Oregon Court of Appeals, where they and the state each argued their case for 15 short minutes.

Bakers who refused to make same-sex wedding cake face Oregon Court of Appeals https://t.co/7ZmJpCOHrj pic.twitter.com/GQpR725udF

— KGW News (@KGWNews) March 2, 2017

Today’s hearing didn’t draw much news coverage (nor did judges issue a ruling), so much of the coverage comes from Christian groups following the case and representing the Kleins.

The Kleins' case is set to come before the Oregon Court of Appeals today. Will you join me in praying for them? https://t.co/rbQXV0zZDZ

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) March 2, 2017

Bakers Who Lost Their Bakery For Not Making Same-Sex Wedding Cake Have Day in Court https://t.co/2iLvqnVV66 #SupportSweetCakes pic.twitter.com/FjrwAnWaHQ

— FamilyPolicyAlliance (@family_policy) March 3, 2017

The hearing for Aaron & Melissa Klein begins NOW. Please commit to praying for them. Watch Twitter for updates. #SupportSweetCakes pic.twitter.com/mfeOl7tNR4

— FRC (@FRCdc) March 2, 2017

Today, OR bakers Aaron & Melissa Klein will have their day in court at the OR Court of Appeals.#SupportSweetCakes at https://t.co/PtvUBaPXKe pic.twitter.com/KGMIeQbTIx

— First Liberty Institute (@1stLiberty) March 2, 2017

First Liberty Institute, a national religious freedom law firm, is representing the Kleins, along with former President George H. W. Bush White House Counsel Boyden Gray. Also in court were attorneys for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which ordered the Kleins to pay $135,000 in emotional damages to the lesbian couple it refused to serve.

That couple offered this statement today:

Lawyer for same-sex couple that requested the cake respond with this statement: @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/P2brlN7U4j

— Kelsey Watts (@KelseyWattsKPTV) March 2, 2017

“No person or family should have to go through what our family has gone through,” wrote Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer, who claimed that their encounter with the Kleins over the wedding cake was responsible for a number of physical and mental ailments:

Examples of symptoms included “acute loss of confidence,” “doubt,” “excessive sleep,” “felt mentally raped, dirty and shameful,” “high blood pressure,” “impaired digestion,” “loss of appetite,” “migraine headaches,” “pale and sick at home after work,” “resumption of smoking habit,” “shock” “stunned,” “surprise,” “uncertainty,” “weight gain” and “worry.”

After the hearing, Melissa Klein shared a very similar sentiment.

Nobody in this country should have to go through what we went through. Melissa Klein #SupportSweetCakes @1stLiberty pic.twitter.com/sKWvXSVJB1

— FRC (@FRCdc) March 2, 2017

Former Gresham bakery owners appealing ruling against them for refusing to bake same-sex wedding cake. @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/hrbK7KOFb2

— Kelsey Watts (@KelseyWattsKPTV) March 2, 2017

“I was happy to serve this couple in the past for another event and I would be happy to serve them again,” Klein said. “But I couldn’t participate in a ceremony that goes against what I believe.”

Last fall, Brad Avakian, who served as commissioner of Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries when it levied the $135,000 fine against the Kleins, lost his bid to become Oregon’s secretary of state to his Republican challenger.

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