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The Daily Signal
Christian
Bakers Fined $135K Over Lesbian Wedding Cake Raise More Than $210K
Diana Stancy
July 08, 2015
A fundraising campaign that was launched to help Aaron and Melissa
Klein, the bakers fined $135,000 for refusing to bake a cake for a
same-sex wedding, has raised more than $210,000.
The Kleins told The Daily Signal in an earlier interview that their
income has virtually been cut in half since they were forced to close
their business as a result. Additionally, if the family is required to
pay the fine, their financial situation will become increasingly
tighter.
To make ends meet, Aaron Klein has picked up a job as a garbage
collector.
But in the past week as the Kleins have made national headlines,
contributions have been streaming in steadily. Currently, more than
$210,000 have been raised for the family on website Continue to
Give—exceeding the initial $150,000 goal. The web page has been shared
over 14,000 times on various social media outlets.
Administrative Law Judge Alan McCullough, who works for the Oregon
Bureau of Labor and Industries, recommended in April that the Kleins
pay a fine of $135,000 dollars—$75,000 to one of the brides, Rachel,
and $60,000 to her partner, Laurel. The fine was upheld in a July
ruling.
The amount of the fine was established because the lesbian couple
submitted a list of alleged physical, emotional and mental damages they
encountered as a result of the Kleins’ actions. The list includes
symptoms such as “excessive sleep,” “weight gain,” “worry” and “pale
and sick at home after work.”
Originally, the fundraiser was started on GoFundMe in April 2015. Upon
raising more than $100,000, the fundraiser was shut down by the site
and consequently, GoFundMe changed their policies to prohibit
“campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes,
violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts.”
The contributions will go toward the Kleins’ everyday expenses and any
emergencies they may encounter.
This article originally misidentified ““Every American should be free
to live and work according to their faith without the government
punishing them for doing so,” as the mission statement of
Continue to Give. It is not, but is a statement on the Kleins’
fundraising page.
Read this and other articles with links at The Daily Signal
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