Welcome to Oregon’s Homophobic Marriage Industry

An individual identifying himself only as Josh holds a sign in front of Multnomah County headquarters in Portland to protest the county"s decision to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Photo by Erik R. Bishoff

On January 17, 2013, a small Gresham, Oregon, bakery named Sweet Cakes by Melissa turned away a wedding couple looking for a wedding cake. The owner, Aaron Klein, claims he did this because selling a cake to gays would have violated his religious beliefs. Portland activists exploded with outrage, and the bakery responded with the following note, posted to their Facebook feed:

“Fuck the Niggers, Spics, whores, sodomites, fat bitches, ugly cunts, hypocritical hoes and overweight hippos on our feed. We try so hard to bake cakes and all you ungrateful bullies hate on me and my beautiful family after these articles were written, shame on you! If you don’t like our business then don’t stop by! More cake for our fellow Christians!”

The message posted on Facebook by Sweet Cakes by Melissa. It was almost immediately removed from their feed.

I spoke with Rob Cochran, one of the organizers of the Sweet Cakes by Melissa protest, when it went down last year. He told me that “we are all free to choose our actions, but we are not free from the consequences. If nobody had demonstrated, we would still have ‘separate-but-equal’ rules in the US, and whites-only establishments. As long as you’re doing business in the general public, you’re required to obey Oregon state law. Otherwise, there are consequences.” The consequences for Sweet Cakes by Melissa were dire: They were forced to close in August 2013.

According to Peter Zuckerman, the press secretary for Oregon United for Marriage, Oregon has faced more anti-gay ballot measures than any other state. Surprisingly, the state known for the liberal city of Portland has hosted more anti-gay movements on the ballot than Texas or Mississippi: 35 anti-gay measures to date. It’s all well and good to keep Portland weird, but gays in the rest of the state are struggling with systemic prejudice and legislation.

Under Oregon law, it is illegal to discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation. Today, that law is in danger of being obstructed. There is a growing movement to get a measure on the ballot called the Protect Religious Freedom Initiative. This measure, proposed by the Oregon Family Council, allows businesses to refuse service to homosexual couples on the basis of faith, including businesses that service weddings. Oregon is the only state likely to be voting on gay marriage in 2014, and it seems likely to be one of the only states voting on measures like the Protect Religious Freedom Initiative as well.

I spoke with Rob again recently, and he told me that the Protect Religious Freedom Initiative is a desperate attempt to distract and confuse otherwise supportive voters in order to take votes away from November’s Marriage Equality Initiative. He believes supporters claim to be protecting religious freedom, yet, in reality, the bill gives businesses a license to discriminate against LGBT consumers based on a religious exemption to the Oregon Equality Act.

“This initiative specifically defines any legal entity, whether it be a business, corporation, nonprofit, association, or LLC as a ‘person,’” he told me. “In addition to this being about legalizing discrimination, this is also very much about corporate personhood. Nobody denies that people have a right to religious freedom and to practice their religious beliefs. As do churches and clergy. No one forces a vegetarian to run a butcher shop. If this initiative passes, not only would it turn back the clock 50 years as far as civil rights go, but it would be a tremendous embarrassment to Oregon and, in my opinion, to those in the religious and spiritual community—many of whom support the freedom to marry for all loving and committed couples.”

Rob Cochran protesting Sweet Cakes by Melissa.

The initiative needs 80,000 signatures to pass. Ten years ago, the Oregon Family Council helped raise 240,000 signatures in five weeks to ban gay marriage. They have been quoted comparing gays to neo-Nazis. The council did not return a request to be interviewed for this article.

“We think it’s a deliberate effort to move the conversation away from love and commitment and the issue of marriage, and to move it towards allowing discrimination based on faith,” said Mike Marshall, the campaign manager at Oregon United for Marriage. The absurdity comes from a basic fact: There are already laws in Oregon that prevent a religious leader from having to be involved in gay marriage. According to Mike, the initiative is an effort to assert the alleged rights of businesses claiming to be driven by the faith.

Mike says that religious groups in Oregon have all but given up on trying to stop gay marriage from happening—this is their next move. He also told me that since Oregon’s initiative became known, South Dakota and Kansas have both introduced bills with almost the exact same language. What began in Oregon seems to be spreading to the rest of the nation.

“In Oregon, there are only about two complaints per year based on sexual orientation or identity,” says Thalia Zepatos of Freedom to Marry. That includes all cases of people claiming to have been discriminated-against based on their orientation for the whole state. “These folks basically talk about the same three or four or five complaints,” she says, in reference to examples being used to fuel the fire for the initiative. Thalia seems to think the law is unnecessary and a step in the wrong direction. “A Protestant baker can’t refuse to bake a cake for a Catholic couple… Why a gay couple, then?”

Portland may be a liberal city, but it is an island in a largely conservative sea of towns. The Oregon Family Council and their supporters seem likely to get their initiative on the ballot, but if they can’t win the marriage debate, they seem unlikely to make their new movement into law. If it does become law, Oregon will be wandering in a strange no man’s land between progressive values and discriminatory business practice. The king will let you be with your lover, but the architect won’t build your home.