A Gresham business owner, who refused service to a same-sex couple, is now facing possible fines after allegedly violating an Oregon anti-discrimination law.
Aaron Klein, owner of Sweet Cakes by Melissa at 44 N.E. Division St., said he was approached by a couple wanting to purchase a cake for their wedding. But when Klein learned it was for a same-sex wedding, he told the couple he wouldn't sell them the cake based on his Christian belief that marriage should be between and man and a woman.
We had done business with them in the past, said Klein, who's owned the bakery for five years. But it's against our religious beliefs to support gay marriage.
One of the brides filed a complaint with the Oregon Attorney General on Monday, Jan. 28, and a civil enforcement officer is investigating, according to KATU.
The Oregon Attorney General's office will determine if Klein's actions violate the Oregon Equality Act. Passed in 2007, the act prohibits discrimination in a place of public accommodation, including a business.
And religious beliefs don't outweigh the state's law, said Matthew Ellis, an attorney with the Portland-based law firm, Kell, Alterman & Runstein.
They have the right to refuse service, so long as it's not based on race, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability, said Ellis, who's specialized in discriminatory lawsuits for the last six years. Those are things that as a society we've said we're taking off the table. In my view, they're violating the law.
You can't make a distinction based on those protective classes. If he's based it on those classes, he's violating the law.
Ellis added that cases like this have become rare since the state passed law 659A.403.
You don't see it much in places of public accommodation any more because it's so clearly wrong, he said. He might as well put a sign on the front door that says, 'gay couples not allowed.'
Dawn Holt, president of Portland's Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays organization, which lends support to homosexual individuals, understands Klein's position but believes Oregon business owners don't have the right to discriminate.
I am somewhat sympathetic toward people who have religious views that make it difficult for them to do business with gay individuals, said Holt, who's been president of the organization for seven years. But the way the law is in Oregon, if you're going to set up a business, you can't pick and choose who your customers are.
Holt, who said she has a gay son, added that this incident may show that businesses need to be better educated about Oregon anti-discrimination law.
I shudder to think that my son and his partner could walk into a store and be refused service," she said. It's ridiculous. I think education surrounding the law needs to happen.
Holt said that when homosexual individuals come to her organization with a discriminatory complaint, she refers them to the Bureau of Labor and Industries.
Charlie Burr, communications director for the Bureau of Labor Industries, said this is the type of situation we'd be interested in hearing about.
He added that if Sweet Cakes by Melissa is found guilty, it could face a maximum fine of $50,000, based on the number of penalties it violated.
But Klein who bakes the cakes that his wife Melissa decorates in their family owned and operated business said he's not refusing all of his business to homosexual individuals, just the sale of wedding cakes.
I have several gay people that come in on a regular basis, he said. But I believe marriage is a religious issue. I shouldn't be the one to change the definition.