Melissa Klein, the Oregon baker who refused to create a cake for a same-sex wedding and was fined $135,000, has baked 10 cakes to send to 10 top gay organizations throughout the United States.
“The idea of sending cakes was suggested to me by a Los Angeles filmmaker, as a gesture of love for homosexuals,” Klein said. “My husband and I have been vilified as being hateful, but we don’t hate anyone, let alone gay people.”
“Ray Comfort produced an award-winning film that epitomizes our attitude toward the LGBT community—that Christians are not their enemy,” Klein continued. “After seeing it, I wanted to send a copy of Audacity to gay organizations and ask them to watch it.”
Comfort, whose movies have been seen by millions, said, “When I saw that Melissa Klein and her husband, Aaron, had been fined $135,000 for not baking a cake for a lesbian wedding, I wanted to say something important in their defense. Like Melissa, I want the LGBT community to know that we are not their enemy.”
The filmmaker and best-selling author used an analogy to help explain how the Kleins and other Christian business owners feel.
“I’d like to ask Melissa’s accusers: Would they bake a cake for a wedding where lion meat would be served at the reception? I think most animal-lovers wouldn’t do it, not because they hated the couple, but because it would be condoning something that compromised their deeply held convictions. They simply believe that eating lion meat is morally wrong. Christians love gay people, but to lend support to a same-sex wedding is to compromise deeply held convictions.”
The letter that accompanied the cake and DVD read: “Hello, we are Aaron and Melissa Klein. We’re the bakers who declined to create a cake for a same-sex wedding and were ordered to pay $135,000. We want you to know that our actions were not motivated by hatred, and we personally baked this cake as a small token of our love.”
The letter continued: “Enclosed is an award-winning movie that further expresses our feelings. I would be honored if you would watch it (it’s also freely available online at audacitymovie.com). One viewer commented: ‘I have to say, as a gay woman who watched Audacity, I agree that the topic was handled with love and compassion, which was refreshing to see … the message was clear (even if it was one I disagreed with as an atheist).’ On behalf of Christians, we want you to know that we do love you, and we are not your enemy (America is about freedom, and freedom for everyone).”
Starring Travis Owens (Friday Night Lights), Molly Ritter (Atrophy, Madison), and Ben Price (Australia’s Got Talent), Audacity explores the conflict between Christians and homosexuality using both a thought-provoking plot and real and unscripted street interviews conducted by Comfort.
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