GRESHAM, Ore., Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A lesbian couple filed suit in an Oregon court for a bakery's alleged discrimination in refusing to provide them a wedding cake.
The couple wanted a cake for their wedding in January, but owner Aaron Klein of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham said his religious convictions wouldn't allow him and his wife, Melissa, to bake a cake for Rachel Cryer, 30, and her fiancee, Laurel, The (Portland) Oregonian reported Wednesday.
Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries' civil rights division will examine the matter to see whether the business violated the Oregon Equality Act of 2007. The law protects the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in employment, housing and public accommodations.
"I told him, 'There are two brides and our names are Rachel and Laurel,'" Cryer said she told Klein when he asked her the names of the bride and groom during her scheduled appointment at the bakery Jan. 17.
Klein said he and his wife won't bake cakes for same-sex marriages because such unions go against their Christian beliefs.
The law provides an exemption for religious organizations and parochial schools, but does not allow private business owners to discriminate based on sexual orientation, just as they cannot legally deny service based on race, age, veteran status, disability or religion.
