GoFundMe shuts down donations for anti-gay bakery
The donation site has rejected a fundraiser for the bakery ordered to pay damages to a lesbian couple.
Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer said the owners of Sweet Cakes in Oregon had refused to make them a cake when they found out it was for their wedding, and then quoted anti-gay Bible verse to justify it. The bakery subsequently closed down.
A judge ordered the bakery to pay $135,000 in damages to the couple.
A donation fund was set up to help pay the fine and raised $100,000 within a day.
A statement by GoFundMe said: “After careful review by our team, we have found the ‘Support Sweet Cakes By Melissa’ campaign to be in violation of our terms and conditions.
“The subjects of the ‘Support Sweet Cakes By Melissa’ campaign have been formally charged by local authorities and found to be in violation of Oregon state law concerning discriminatory acts. Accordingly, the campaign has been disabled.”
Melissa Klein, one of the owners of Sweet Cakes, said: “The GoFundMe account that was set up to help our family was shut down by the administrators of GoFundMe because they claimed it was raising money for an illegal purpose.
“We have told GoFundMe that the money is simply going to be used to help our family, and there is no legitimate breach of their terms and conditions.”
