Christian Baker Who Won’t Make Cake for Gay Wedding Is “Really Hurt” by Backlash

Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California is the latest Christian-owned store refusing to take money from gay people for a wedding cake.

On Saturday, Eileen Del Rio visited the store for a taste test with her partner and a few friends, only to have her order rejected when the owner told them she didn’t “condone” gay marriage.

It wasn’t long before the local news covered the story and word got out that this was another bakery run by Christian bigots.

 

The owner didn’t help with her comments to 23ABC News:

Owner Cathy Miller said, “Here at Tastries, we love everyone… my husband and I our Christians and we know that god created everyone and he created everyone equal so it’s not that we don’t like people of certain groups of people there is just certain things that violate my conscience.“

In short: “God loves everyone. We love everyone. Everyone is equal. And gay people can go fuck themselves.”

There’s no lawsuit or anything right now, but something just as powerful may be happening anyway. The bakery’s Facebook reviews are in the toilet. Their social media is down until the backlash subsides. More importantly, any search for their business online turns up the fact that it’s run by bigots who discriminate due to their religious beliefs.

I’m not the first person to suggest this, but there’s an argument to be made that if it ever becomes legal for businesses to discriminate against people on the basis of faith (the Supreme Court will hear a case like this soon), then businesses should have to post signs on their doors listing the people they refuse to serve. Tell us whose money you don’t want. But since that’s a long shot, the next best thing is making sure the business is forever branded as a bigoted company (because that’s where Conservative Jesus drew the line).

As Christians, they won’t take money for a cake for a same-sex wedding.

As decent human beings, we shouldn’t give them money to reward their bigotry.

Anyone want to bet Miller has no problem making cakes for couples that are infertile, on their second or third marriages, adulterers, or gluttons?

Miller, by the way, may also be a hypocrite in another way. If you look at the cake that’s right behind her in the interview, it’s very clearly celebrating the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Many Christians — the kind who think Halloween and Harry Potter are evil — also say this holiday is a Pagan ritual that should be avoided if not rejected. Miller doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. That’s fine, but it just shows how selective she is in her application of biblical rules. She rejects the arguments that this holiday should be celebrated, she rejects the long list of biblical sinners when their sins aren’t evident at first glance, but she’ll cite the Bible when telling a gay couple they’ll have to find another bakery. (She suggested they go to a local competitor, but that doesn’t excuse her behavior.)

Miller told one TV station, “I’m really hurt by this. I don’t think we should be picked on because of our beliefs.” She’s hurt by what? Her own beliefs? I don’t get it. And it’s appalling that she thinks she’s the victim in this story when, for years now, she’s been using her religion as a cudgel against gay couples who want nothing more than to give her money for the product she’s selling.

There was one bright spot to this story. A local photographer, Brandon Rose, heard about the couple getting married and offered them his wedding day services free of charge.

(via Joe. My. God., where one clever commenter dubbed Miller “Petty Crocker”)