“I know that we’re called to stand for truth and righteousness. Sometimes that can cause problems,” Klein said. “I’m more than willing to take on the problems that come with it to stand up for God’s work. I’m in the middle of it, but this is God’s fight.”

On a cold morning this past January in Gresham, Oregon, Aaron Klein sat down with two customers at the bakery he owned with his wife, Sweet Cakes by Melissa. The two women, a bride and her mother, were making plans to purchase a wedding cake. Before discussing the details, Klein asked his customers a few standard questions. When would the wedding be? What was the groom’s name? At the second question, there was an awkward hesitation, and the mother explained that this would be a wedding between two brides. Klein politely but firmly told them that because of his and his wife’s Christian beliefs, they would not bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. Without a word, the bride and her mother got up and left.

About ten minutes later, the bride’s mother returned to the bakery and began to debate Klein using biblical references to claim that her daughter was created that way and there was nothing wrong with her marriage. Klein was firm, asserting that he would not be involved in a lesbian wedding. When he refused to back down, the woman left. About two weeks later, Klein received a complaint letter and an official investigation notice from the Oregon Department of Justice.

It wasn’t long before the Kleins’ story hit national media. They faced waves of harassment from gay rights sympathizers in the forms of mail, picketing, and social media pages dedicated solely toward boycotting their business. They received death threats against their children.

LGBT groups targeted other wedding vendors in the Gresham area, threatening to boycott them as well if they continued or agreed to do business with Sweet Cakes by Melissa.

“People would keep calling [other wedding vendors] until they stopped doing business with us. It’s racketeering is what it is,” Aaron Klein told TAS.

As I’ve documented, the Kleins aren’t the only wedding vendors to face harassment and intolerance for practicing their beliefs. Jack Phillips, a bakery owner in Colorado, is still awaiting a possible jail sentence for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple back in July. In addition, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in August that Jonathan and Elaine Huguenin, owners of Elane Photography, had violated the Human Rights Act by refusing to take pictures for a same-sex “commitment ceremony” in Taos, N.M.

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