The Oregon bakers who were fined for discrimination against a same-sex couple by refusing to bake a wedding cake for them are appealing the decision in an Oregon Court of Appeals.
Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, were told to pay $135,000 in damages to Rachel Cryer-Bowman and Laurel Bowman-Cryer by Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.
The Kleins have filed a case in court on Monday, saying that the labor department's decision against them violates their religious freedom and freedom of speech.
Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian had earlier written that the bakers' act "was more than the denial of the product. ... It was the epitome of being told there are places you cannot go, things you cannot do ... or be."
However, the Kleins have maintained that they denied service to the same-sex couple because of their deeply-held religious beliefs.
"For the most part, the Kleins' faith did not affect their relationship with customers. As they testified, the Kleins would not turn people away on account of membership in a protected class," the brief submitted in the court of appeals said.
The Kleins said that they did not intend to decline people based on their individual backgrounds, but that their faith required them to refuse designing cakes for "certain events," including "for example, divorce parties."
"For the Kleins, the union between a man and a woman in marriage mirrors the union between Jesus Christ and his church on earth."
The appeal also claimed that the labor department was "seeking to stamp out dissent to a new social orthodoxy that embraces same-sex weddings rather than seeking to deter all invidious discrimination in business transactions."
The Kleins said in the brief that the storefront and decorations had made it apparent that they were religious people.
"As a testament to their commitment to operating Sweet Cakes in accordance with their Christian faith, the Kleins had their church pastor pray over the store and dedicate its work to Jesus Christ and decorated the storefront with Christian imagery like crosses," the brief states.
The couple were forced to close down their shop after the lawsuit, but the New Civil Rights Movement claims that they did not lose their business.
"The Kleins of course did not lose their business at all. Unless they have sold it or somehow let it lapse, they still own the Sweet Cakes by Melissa trademark. Years ago they chose to close their storefront shop and take their cake baking business online, where you today can buy a cake, a wedding cake, cupcakes, and other baked goods: Sweet Cakes," it said.
In a separate Colorado case, a baker Jack Philips from Lakewood was penalized for refusing to bake a cake for wedding anniversary of two men.
He was summoned by Colorado Civil Rights Commission which told Philips to report regularly to the department to show them that he was working to "correct" his practices, according to Charisma News. The state Supreme Court declined to hear his case.
"We all have a right to our personal beliefs, but we do not have a right to impose those beliefs on others and discriminate against them," said Ria Tabacco Mar, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.
