Texas Bakery Refuses to Make Same-Sex Couple a Wedding Cake

The owner cited her Christian faith.

Wedding preparations are hard enough without being denied a cake because of your sexual orientation. An engaged couple in East Texas tried to order a cake for their March wedding from a local bakery and were rebuffed when the owner said she didn't support same-sex marriage, reports the Longview News-Journal.

Ben Valencia said he felt "dehumanized" after he and his fiancé, Luis Marmolejo, visited Kern's Bake Shop in the city of Longview. Valencia says the pair went through the process of getting a quote for a cake, but co-owner Edie Delorme refused to serve them once they told her the cake was for their wedding.

Delorme, who owns the shop with her husband David, told the News-Journal that the they do not provide cakes for such occasions, as same-sex marriages are not in line with her Christian faith and values. Kern's also refuses to make alcohol-related or risqué cakes. Instead, the couple will get their cake from another local baker who reached out after seeing their story on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Kern's Bake Shop has taken down its Facebook page, presumably due to a flood of negative comments, and is drawing the ire of Yelp reviewers — but the incident has earned them the support of evangelical preacher Billy Graham's son, Franklin Graham.

Kern's isn't the first bakery to make headlines for its controversial refusal to provide same-sex wedding cakes: A Portland, Oregon bakery was ordered to pay a couple $135,000 in damages last year after refusing to make a same-sex wedding cake.

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