Christian Bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein Are Appealing To SCOTUS Over 2015 Gay Wedding Cake Case

Brittany M. Hughes | October 23, 2018
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Melissa and Aaron Klein, the former owners of the now-closed Sweet Cakes by Melissa, filed a petition Monday to the U.S. Supreme Court appealing a massive fine leveled at them in 2015 by the state of Oregon for declining to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony half a decade ago.

The Kleins, and their once-successful family-owned bakery, made headlines back in 2013 after they declined to make a cake for a lesbian couple’s wedding, saying that providing wedding services to same-sex couples went against their Christian beliefs in traditional marriage.

The gay couple then sued the Kleins for discrimination, a charge that was later upheld by the state courts.

Having been ordered by the state to pay $135,000 in emotional damages to the lesbian couple, the couple has now appealed the fine to the highest court in the nation after the Oregon Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal with no explanation earlier this year.

While the couple still faces a battle to – and through – the Supreme Court, their case isn’t entirely without some historical precedent. In a narrow 7-2 ruling back in June, SCOTUS ruled in favor of a Colorado-based Christian baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, determining that the state of Colorado had unfairly targeted Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips’ religious beliefs when they required him to bake a cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins.

However, the Court was careful not to set a legal precedent for all vendors who refuse to offer services to same-sex couples for their wedding ceremonies, meaning that while Phillips won his own day in court, the Kleins’ story is still very much being written.

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