Devout Christian bakers in a small town in Texas are facing a backlash after turning down an order for a gay wedding cake.
Kern's Bake Shop in Longview is owned by Edie and David Delorme, who attend a local Baptist church and also run their bake shop in line with their religious values, according to Fox News. This includes refusing orders for risqué, alcohol or tobacco-themed cakes.
They have reportedly received threats against their business and family after refusing to make a gay wedding cake for Ben Valencia and Luis Marmolejo.
"We don't do cakes that might conflict with our spiritual convictions," Edie told Fox. "It was not something personal against the two young men. We just need to be able to run our business in a way that honors God."
She added: "We feel like if we are going to be putting our name on something, we want it to encourage godly values."
Valencia and Marmolejo went to the press with their story, with Valencia telling the News-Journal that the experience had made him feel "dehumanized".
In addition to hate mail, the bakery's Yelp page has attracted angry messages, with one reading: "See you in Hell, lady."
Another message said: "This business is run by a homophobic piece of s***."
The deluge of posts on the bake shop's Yelp page has forced the review site to intervene with an "Active Cleanup Alert" that removes posts unrelated to genuine customer experience.
"This business recently made waves in the news, which often means that people come to this page to post their views on the news," the alert read.
"While we don't take a stand one way or the other when it comes to these news events, we do work to remove both positive and negative posts that appear to be motivated more by the news coverage itself than the reviewer's personal consumer experience with the business."
Others, however, used the Yelp page to express their support for the Delormes.
"Good for you and your business standing your ground. The gay community wants the right to live their lives in the way they see fit. That's fine but it's a two way street isn't it?" said one message.
The deluge of posts on the bake shop's Yelp page has forced the review site to intervene with an "Active Cleanup Alert" that removes posts that appear to be unrelated to genuine customer experience.
"This business recently made waves in the news, which often means that people come to this page to post their views on the news," the alert read.
"While we don't take a stand one way or the other when it comes to these news events, we do work to remove both positive and negative posts that appear to be motivated more by the news coverage itself than the reviewer's personal consumer experience with the business."
David Delorme said threats against his family because of their stance on homosexuality were "wrong".
His attorney, Michael Berry of First Liberty Institute agrees: "When they start to receive threats towards their family and their business simply because of their religious convictions – there's something wrong with that picture."
Evangelist Franklin Graham spoke in defence of the Delormes, saying on his Facebook page: "Here we go again – gays attacking Christians for what they believe. They want to force everyone to accept and condone their lifestyle which God's Word defines as sin – but they are blatantly intolerant of others."
