An East Texas bakery coming under fire for refusing to make a gay wedding cake

Since the public got wind of the Longview bakery’s decision not to make a gay couple's wedding cake the comments on social media have ranged from supportive to rather angry and threatening. Yelp, though, has taken to deleting any comments that they see as motivated by the news story and not based on the bakery’s actual work. less Since the public got wind of the Longview bakery’s decision not to make a gay couple's wedding cake the comments on social media have ranged from supportive to rather angry and threatening. Yelp, though, has ... more Photo: Yelp Photo: Yelp Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close An East Texas bakery coming under fire for refusing to make a gay wedding cake 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

A Christian couple that owns a bakery in Longview, Texas is coming under fire for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex couple in that area.

Edie and David Delorme own Kern’s Bake Shop. They attend a small Baptist church just outside of town.

According to Longview News-Journal the bakery was asked by a couple, Ben Valencia and Luis Marmolejo, to make a cake for their upcoming nuptials back on Feb. 17. The bakery’s owners told the couple that their faith precluded them from making the cake but they did suggest a handful of bakeries in the area that could suit their needs.

Days later the bakery began hearing from local media after the couple told their story.

"I don't see how making a cake for somebody is going to compromise your beliefs,” Marmolejo told the Longview News-Journal this week.

"It just kind of makes you feel dehumanized," Valencia told the outlet on Tuesday. "People shouldn't have to worry about going into a business, especially a public business that serves the public, and have to worry about being turned away for something, for who you are."

The lawyer for the bakery, Michael Berry of First Liberty in Plano, tells the Houston Chronicle that Kern’s has previously decided against making cakes that didn’t line up with their beliefs, saying that cakes with alcohol, tobacco, or gambling themes have been turned down.

Berry said that the cake in question was pretty standard in design. The Delormes told him that the exchange between the couple and the bakery was rather civil when they turned them down.

Berry reached out to them as the media firestorm began to gather. His firm also represents that bakers from Oregon that ran up against similar trouble when they refused to make a gay wedding cake. Berry says that that case is still pending.

Since the public got wind of the Longview bakery’s decision the comments on social media have ranged from supportive to rather angry and threatening. Yelp, though, has taken to deleting any comments that they see as motivated by the news story and not based on the bakery’s actual work.

The Delormes reopened the Longview staple in early 2015 after it had been closed for a year. According to the Longview News-Journal it’s been a city institution since 1918 under different management.

“It’s a mom-and-pop shop and when they start getting death threats there is something seriously wrong,” Berry said. “It gets really ugly and unfortunate but that has a very real effect on the Delormes and their employees.”

Berry says that the bakery is being asked to compromise their sincerely-held religious beliefs unfairly.

As Texas is without a statewide discrimination ban based on sexual orientation, the gay couple has limited chances for legal recourse against the bakery.

Berry says that the bakery remains open but they have expressed real concern that some of the internet chatter could have a financial impact on the business.