Bakery Under Government Investigation For Refusing To Write Anti-Gay Message On A Cake

Free Thought Project – by John Vibes

Denver, Colorado – Marjorie Silva, a bakery owner in Colorado, is currently under investigation for religious discrimination after she refused to write an anti-gay message on a cake for one of her customers.

The incident happened back in March when a customer named Bill Jack ordered several cakes that he wanted to feature an anti-gay message on.

The cakes that he ordered were specifically requested to be shaped like bibles, and have the words “God hates gays” written on them, with a picture of two men holding hands with a line through it.  

According to employees at the bakery, Jack would not actually say the words that he wanted them to put on the cake, but instead wrote it down, and would not allow the employees to make a copy of the paper.

Most of the employees at the bakery were offended, and so was the owner, so they refused to put the lettering on the cake.

“After I read it, I was like ‘No way. We’re not doing this. This is just very discriminatory and hateful,’” Silva told reporters.

Silva had no problem baking the cakes for him, but said that he would have to put the messages on them himself, she would even provide the icing.

“I told him, ‘I’ll make you a cake any flavor and shape that you like and then I’ll give you the icing and you can write the message yourself,’” Silva told the Daily News.

The offer was not good enough for Jack, so he left the bakery and then later filed a complaint against Silva and the bakery for religious discrimination. The complaint sparked a formal investigation that could result in legal penalties for Silva and her business.

Such an outcome would actually not be far-fetched, in fact, Last year, a baker also in Colorado was charged under the state’s anti-discrimination laws and was forced by the government to complete the order or face legal penalties.

It is possible that Jack’s cake purchase could be a stunt to use the system to force his beliefs on other people, in the same way that the complaint last year did.

Although the different complaints are coming from two total opposite ends of the spectrum, both are using government threats to force someone else to do something that they don’t want to do. True tolerance, respect and unity among different people comes from changing the culture and teaching others, especially our children to love instead of hate.

Love and tolerance in any direction should not be enforced by the barrel of a gun, if anything this will hinder the development of true cultural understanding. Instead, the laws used to enforce such behavior will just become weapons that people use against one another when they have philosophical disagreements, as we see with these discrimination cases.

In a statement to 9NEWS Jack said, “I believe I was discriminated against by the bakery based on my creed. As a result, I filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division. Out of respect for the process, I will wait for the director to release his findings before making further comments”

This issue is being seriously deliberated by the Department of Regulatory Agencies, they even required an extension for their decision, so no development in the case is expected for the next few months.

“It’s just horrible. It doesn’t matter if, you know, if you’re Catholic, or Jewish, or Christian, if I’m gay or not gay or whatever. We should all be loving each other. I mean there’s no reason to discriminate,” Silva said.

Ironically, discrimination is what she is being investigated for.

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John Vibes is an author, researcher and investigative journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture and the drug war. In addition to his writing and activist work he is also the owner of a successful music promotion company. In 2013, he became one of the organizers of the Free Your Mind Conference, which features top caliber speakers and whistle-blowers from all over the world. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can find his 65 chapter Book entitled “Alchemy of the Timeless Renaissance” at bookpatch.com.
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