The Printer, The Baker and The Flower Arranger

THE PRINTER

On 24 February 24, 2000, the Ontario Human Rights Commission found Scott Brockie guilty of discriminating against homosexuals according to its code.

Brockie, the owner of ‘Imaging Excellence, Inc.’, maintains that his Christian beliefs compelled him to reject a request by the ‘Canadian Gay and Lesbian Archives’ in 1996 to print materials for the group.

The Toronto-based CGLA provides a clearinghouse of information about homosexuals and their history.

A board of inquiry appointed under the Ontario Human Rights Code ordered him to pay damages of $5,000.

“Their position was that you must serve every customer who walks through your door with no exceptions,” said Janet Epp Buckingham, legal counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, which defended Brockie in court.

But the Gay and Lesbian Archives argues that Brockie's refusal of service is equivalent to racial discrimination: “If we were black, this would be a case of asking Rosa Parks to get off the bus again,” said the group’s board president, Matt Hughes, referring to the famous incident during the American civil rights movement.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s board of inquiry asserted that, “it is reasonable to limit Brockie's freedom of religion in order to prevent the very real harm to members of the lesbian and gay community.”

The board added that, “Brockie remains free to hold his religious beliefs and practice them in his home and in his Christian community.”

But Buckingham points out that the code, which was established in 1962, requires employers to accommodate the beliefs of their employees. “It’s unfair to say your religious and conscientiously held beliefs are of no value,” she said.

The appeal was lost - however, it was decided that Mr Brockie or his business would not be required, “to print material of a nature that could reasonably be considered to be in direct conflict with the core elements of his religious beliefs or creed.”

THE FLORIST

Homosexual activists protested outside the home of a Christian florist in Canada because she would not provide flowers for a lesbian wedding.

The protestors dropped flowers tied with rainbow-coloured ribbons on the front lawn of the florist’s suburban home, and demanded that she be hauled before the courts.

The intimidating protest was sparked when the lesbian couple’s ‘wedding planner’ wrote about the Christian florist’s stance on Twitter.

PROTEST
Florist Kim Evans runs her business from her home in Moncton, New Brunswick.

She previously told the lesbian couple by email: “As a born-again Christian, I must respect my conscience before God and have no part in this matter.”

Outside the florist’s home, protestors spoke to news reporters, claiming they were ‘spreading a message of tolerance.’

The lesbian couple’s wedding planner did not disclose their names, but said he was appalled and outraged by the Christian florist’s stance.

Kim Evans was not initially told that the couple were lesbians, but when she discovered this, she politely declined their business in an email.

DESIRE TO PROSECUTE
Homosexual activists in Canada and the US are calling for the florist to be taken to the Human Rights Tribunal, even though no case or complaint has been lodged by the unnamed lesbian couple.

Mike Judge of The Christian Institute commented: “These activists are spreading a so-called ‘message of tolerance’, yet the one thing they will not tolerate is this Christian lady’s freedom to disagree with them.”

THE BAKER

A Christian baker in the US state of Iowa may face legal action and has been sent hate mail after she politely told a lesbian couple that she could not make them a wedding cake.

Victoria Childress, who runs a cake baking business from home, said: “I didn’t do the cake because of my convictions for their lifestyle.”

She also commented: “I did not belittle them, I did not speak rudely to them. There were no condescending remarks made, nothing.”

Lesbian couple Trina Vodraska and Janelle Sievers thanked her for being honest. However, they may lodge a civil rights complaint over the incident.

Victoria owns Victoria’s Cake Cottage in Des Moines, Iowa, and has received hate messages for her actions.

But she has also received support for her actions. She told FOX that she has also receive plenty of positive feedback, including support from local businesses glad that someone is standing up to bullying by homosexuals: “People are telling me they were proud of me for standing up for my beliefs because not many people do that these days.”

STATEMENT
The lesbian couple released a statement which said: “Awareness of equality was our only goal in bringing this to light, it is not about cake or someone’s right to refuse service to a customer.”

They said they hoped “we have prevented someone else from experiencing the same type of bigotry.”

THE FALLOUT
Reaction from the homosexual ranks to the stance adopted by the baker has shown the usual measure of restraint and tolerance:

• The incident attracted the attention of Des Moines television station KCCI, which gave Trina Vodraska a platform to voice her anger at being snubbed by Childress.

“It was degrading,” she told the television station. “It was like she chastised us for wanting to do business with her. I know Jesus loves me. I didn’t need her to tell me that. I didn’t go there for that. I just wanted to go there for a cake.”

• Soon Childress began receiving hateful emails – so many and so disturbing that she stopped reading them.

“It’s really hard to read things like that,” she said. “I’m a pretty quiet, soft-spoken person. But when I stand up for my convictions against things, I’m very strong when it comes to that.”

• Pro-gay activists have launched a boycott of this Iowa baker.

• The two lesbians who were denied their cake said they are mulling possible legal action against the principled baker. In 2007 Iowa’s civil rights laws were expanded to ban discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation, with religious exemptions allowed only for qualified institutions such as churches or schools. This may possibly leave Childress exposed to being cited for discriminating against the lesbians.