Bakery won't make gay wedding cake, couple takes story viral

Bakery won’t make cake for gay wedding

Protests are planned after a Denver-area bakery turned away a gay couple's wedding cake order. Above, a different couple -- West Hollywood Councilman Jeffrey Prang, left, and his partner, Raymundo Vizcarra -- pose with their cake's two groom figurines outside West Hollywood City Hall in 2004.

By Laura Hautala

Aug. 3, 2012 5:29 PM PT

A gay couple took their story viral after a Denver-area cake shop turned down their order for a wedding cake last week. Supporters of same-sex marriage have been calling the shop, and protesters plan to gather in front of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo., on Saturday.

The backlash adds to the emerging food fight over businesses -- such as Chick-fil-A -- that have reputations of opposing gay marriage.

David Mullins, 28, and Charlie Craig, 31, say they went to the cake shop to order a rainbow cake for their upcoming nuptials in Providence, Mass., on the recommendation of their reception venue.

“As soon as the owner realized the cake was for our wedding reception, he quickly informed us that his business did not provide cakes for gay weddings,” the couple said in a statement.

At the writing of this post, the bakery phone number was not connecting to the store, and representatives from the bakery were not immediately available to comment via e-mail.

Bakery owner Jack Phillips told CBS news, “If gays come in and want to order birthday cakes or any cakes for any occasion, graduations, or whatever, I have no prejudice against that whatsoever.” But on the subject of gay marriage, he said, “we would close down the bakery before we compromised our beliefs.”

The couple quickly took to the Internet with their story, and soon two Facebook pages sprang up advocating a boycott. An online petition to boycott the bakery has gathered more than 4,300 signatures.

A Facebook page supporting the bakery also popped up, with frequent commenter Sharon Phillips-Wethington writing, “God is Great!! 344 members.”

Saturday’s protesters have backup from FitzGibbon Media, which works with SignOn.org to promote causes that reach a high enough number of signatures and level of attention online.

“We want to give everyone the tools to run a campaign, and when it reaches a certain threshold, we want to give them press backup, and that’s where we come in,” FitzGibbon representative Brett Abrams said.

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