San Diego LGBT advocacy group receives cake from Oregon bakers who refused to bake same-sex wedding cake

Today, San Diego-based LGBT advocacy group Canvass for a Cause was one of 10 LGBT advocacy organizations that received a cake from Sweet Cakes Bakery in Oregon. Together with the cake, which was inscribed “We really do love you!” on a red heart, the package included a letter from Sweet Cakes’ owners Aaron and Melissa Klein, a CD of the movie Audacity and a $25 restaurant gift card.

Sweet Cakes were the Oregon bakers who refused to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple and were subsequently fined $135,000 by the state of Oregon. The bakery has subsequently had to close its storefront.

According to a report in The Daily Signal Aaron Klein said the reason they were doing this was “… to show that we don’t harbor hard feelings toward the narrative that’s been put out about us. We don’t want to see these people hurting.”

The letter states,

“We’re the bakers who declined to create a cake for a same-sex wedding and were ordered to pay the girls $135,000. We want you to know that our actions were not motivated by hatred, and we personally baked this cake as a small token of our love. Enclosed is an award-winning movie that further expresses our feelings. I would be honored if you would watch it.

“On behalf of Christians, we want you to know that we do love you, and we are not your enemy (America is about freedom, and freedom for everyone).”

Em Sal, programs and communications director with Canvass for a Cause in San Diego told LGBT Weekly, “A box came in the mail to a radical queer rights organization; the box said fragile, dry ice, and cake – so we weren’t exactly sure what to make of it. We had already received hate mail earlier this week so we were naturally wary of potential danger. Once we opened the package, we were genuinely excited to see that it was in fact a cake … and then we saw the movie and knew this cake came with some homophobic strings attached.”

Cathy “LC” Carmack, canvass director with Canvass for a Cause explained that the ‘other things’ that came in the package were, “… a letter, a DVD and a $25 gift certificate to be applied at various restaurants. The movie is about a young man who believes in the Bibles’ view of homosexuality and his struggle to speak the truth in a world where his opinion as a Christian is ‘oppressed.’”

The Klein’s did not make reference to the restaurant gift certificate, but described the movie Audacity as an award-winning movie that “further expresses our feelings.”

Em Sal dismissed the movie as a “propaganda film that depicts people like me as destined for hell.”

According to The Daily Signal report, the Klein’s sent cakes to 10 different organizations including the California LGBT Arts Alliance, Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center, Californians Against Hate, CFAC Headquarters, Equality California, Out and Equal, The South Bay LGBT Community Organization, The LGBTQ Center Long Beach, Los Angeles LGBT Center McDonald/Wright Building and LGBT of Southern Nevada. In the coming weeks, they plan to send baked goods to other LGBTQ groups across the country.

“It seemed strange and counterproductive and felt like the Klein’s missed the whole point,” said Em Sal. “I am not upset about cakes. I am upset because at least 17 transgender women of color have been murdered so far this year. The money spent on this gesture could have been donated to any number of LGBT+ rights organizations to stop the very real systematic discrimination and oppression faced by this community. It upsets me what could have been accomplished given the funds for 10 cakes, films, gift cards and packaging.”

The Klein’s claim to be talking “on behalf of Christians” and are “doing this to show that we don’t harbor hard feelings toward the narrative that’s been put out about us.”

“I do not believe that the Klein’s have the ability to speak on behalf of Christians in the first place, in the same way that Canvass for a Cause cannot speak for the entire Queer community,” said LC. “As an activist organization that engages in face-to-face conversations with the public about queer issues, we have the opportunity to speak with many individuals who do identify as Christian. I can confidently say that all Christians are not in agreement on this issue.”

Aaron Klein told The Daily Signal that they aren’t getting their hopes up that sending LGBTQ groups homemade cakes will end the narrative that’s unfolded, but they said it’s worth the effort. “That’s the whole narrative that they’ve put forth this whole time, that I’m this big hateful guy,” Aaron said. “I don’t get where that comes from.”

LC’s response was emphatic, “Do I believe that one family making 10 cakes and an evangelical preacher promoting his own film will somehow bring together the LGBT+ community and Christians despite years of hatred and oppression? No. I assume the Klein’s had good intentions in sending us a cake but the reality of the situation is this cake comes from a business owner who refused to allow one group of people to enjoy decadence while providing it to others. That is discrimination, plain and simple.”

Maybe this is the beginning of some sort of dialogue between these two factions. Only time will tell.