Mixed response for Oregon bakers' 'love' cakes

At 6 a.m. on an August morning, Aaron and Melissa Klein packed 10 red-and-white cakes into the back of their minivan. The cakes were gifts, baked by their family, for 10 LGBT organizations on the West Coast.

The Kleins, currently embroiled in a court fight in Oregon for refusing to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding, drove 1,100 miles to Los Angeles where they met apologist and filmmaker Ray Comfort. They packed the cakes into boxes with a copy of Comfort’s Audacity DVD and a gift card to a restaurant.

On the cakes, the Kleins had written, “We really do love you!”

The Kleins hoped their gift and the message might open a conversation between the LGBT groups and Christians about calming the tension over Christian beliefs about homosexuality. Aaron Klein said he hoped the LGBT groups would realize the couple weren’t looking for a fight.

“Some people just have their minds made up that we are hateful,” Klein said. “This is about love, this is about civility. … We don’t have to be mean to each other.”

Klein said Comfort told them he wanted to send out the DVDs and asked if they would get involved and makes cakes.

Klein had thought about reaching out to LGBT groups before. Over social media, someone suggested they announce a free cupcake day for homosexuals at their bakery.

But with no storefront, the Kleins decided to accept Comfort’s invitation.

When one of the Kleins’ cakes arrived at Canvass for a Cause, an LGBT activist group in San Diego, Calif., it made workers there nervous because it was marked “dry ice.” Spokeswoman Em Sal said the group had received some angry mail earlier that week, adding to their concern. But eventually they opened the box anyway.

“It included a hate film,” Sal said. “We didn’t see it as a gesture of good will.”

When asked about the message on the cake, Sal said she wouldn’t accept it: “That’s not even on the table. … If they wanted to show that they loved me, this is not what they could do.”

At the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach, Calif., the cake arrived spoiled. Executive Director Porter Gilberg said he was confused by the package because it contained both the cake and an “anti-gay” DVD that seemed to contradict the Klein’s message of love.

Klein said people should watch the movie before judging the message.

“It expresses the heart of Christianity for the LGBT crowd. … We just can’t be quiet about something we feel would harm somebody,” he said.

Gilberg sent an email in response to the Kleins’ package, thanking them for the thought, inviting them to visit the center, and explaining the organization had relationships with faith-based organizations.

Klein said they had a number of responses, some of which were not hostile. Equality California told the Kleins it gave the cake to gay homeless youth. Another group said it planned to auction the cake and use the money to support LGBT causes.

After sending out the cakes, Klein went on an LGBT talk radio show, Michelle Meow, to talk about the project. He told the show’s listeners he doesn’t hate homosexuals.

“I expected a lot of hostility,” Klein said. “And the fact that we got a couple decent responses was actually encouraging that there is hope to open this dialogue.”

But Sal accused the Kleins of sending out the cakes as a publicity stunt, an accusation Klein denies. The couple didn’t give the story to the press and didn’t talk about it to many people. Reporters picked up on the story as part of another conversation.

The Kleins would like to send out more cakes as soon as they have time—possibly coffee cakes, since they are less likely to spoil in the mail. But no matter what they make, the message will remain the same.

“We’ve been cast in this light as big, hateful, monstrous people,” Klein said. “And that’s not what we are. … We love these people so much we want to spend eternity with them in Heaven.”