Jessica Bates, a widow, God fearing “Christian” and a mother of five s suing the state of Oregon for denying her application to foster and adopt children because she wouldn’t accept any LGBT children into her home.
Bates alleges that the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) discriminated against her religion and violated her right to free speech by requiring that foster parents affirm LGBT youth.
Bates lawsuit states that she “alerted the Department that she will gladly love and accept any child for who they are, but she cannot say or do anything against her Christian faith” and that when she “stood her ground,” her application was rejected.
“Jessica felt as though God was speaking to her,” it said. She felt a calling to help kids in need – but only if they weren’t LGBT.
The suit called DHS’s acceptance policy “an ideological litmus test” that only allows people with “correct” views to adopt.
Protests and fighting broke out in front of Old Nick’s Pub in Eugene on Sunday, with a crowd of people defending or attacking the pub for hosting a drag story time event with an 11-year-old performer.
Some 250 people lined the sidewalks next to the pub on Washington Street to support the pub and event. About 50 protesters were on the opposite sidewalk protesting it.
The event was packed where the 11-year-old drag performer Vanellope Macpherson Dupont was the show’s guest of honor instead of performing.
Via The Register Guard: The conflict began a week ago after online commenters and right-wing personalities caught wind of the drag show and accused the event of sexualizing children who perform in it. A protest was organized targeting the pub, and in response, community members planned a counterprotest titled “Eugene stands against hate.”
At one point, protestors threw rocks and smoke grenades at each other, and at least one person on both sides was hit in the face with pepper spray. there were no arrests.
The pub said Monday in a Facebook post that the event went on safely despite the protests, but the business expects to be “a target for violent extremists for a good while” and said it spent $2,000 on private security Sunday.
“We love you all so much, and we will not ever back down to hate,” the pub said in its Monday post. It added.
After 33 years the hate crime murder of Robbie Altom has finally been solved.
Alton was found beaten and unconscious in Portland Oregon back in November of 1982. He died three days later from blunt force head trauma. The family was skeptical that the case would ever be solved but just this past week, authorities announced that they have identified the killer
On Wednesday, Portland Police Bureau cold case homicide detectives announced they’ve identified Altom’s killer as Cecil Corrie Turner, who was 24 years old at the time of the murder.
Altom was killed because he was openly gay and death is what is now called a hate crime, said Det. Angela Hollan.
The original investigators learned a man was harassing Altom in the bar before he left.
The man used gay slurs and pushed Altom off a bar stool.
Turner was a person of interest during the initial investigation, but police did not have enough evidence to arrest him.
Cold case detectives recently spoke with a witness, who provided them with new information.
“Thirty-three years later she remembered some things she wasn’t really wasn’t willing to tell police back in 1982,” said Hollan. “I think there was a lot of fear about what might happen to her.”
That woman’s statements helped them determine Turner is “without a doubt” responsible for Altom’s death, said Hollan.
“Robbie was tired of being harassed and decided it was time to go home. Cecil followed Robbie outside the bar and this is what happened,” said Hollan.
My uncle Robbie was a good man,” she Altoms surviving niece. “He didn’t deserve to die because he was gay.” And added “But It’s just nice knowing that my uncle’s not in a box sitting in a warehouse somewhere with the words cold case written on him,” said Luna. “He’s not. It’s solved and now it’s put to rest.”
Corrie Turner, who was 24 years old at the time of the murder died in Oregon in 2009
A federal grand jury has indicted Aamon Bundy and several other people involved in the anti-government attack at an Oregon wildlife sanctuary, where a handful of holdouts continued to occupy the site overnight Wednesday.
Federal prosecutor Geoff Barrow told the AP on Wednesday that the indictment involves the people arrested so far “and others,” perhaps a reference to the four people who have stayed put at the federal refuge — despite Ammon Bundy’s calls for them to leave.
The indictment, which was unsealed Thursday and obtained by NBC News, alleges that the defendants conspired together since last October to prevent refuge employees from doing their work at the wildlife sanctuary “by force, intimidation, and threats.”
The maximum penalty is six years in prison. The Bundy brothers — sons of infamous Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy — remain jailed. The occupiers took over the refuge as part of a larger demand that the federal government turn public lands over to local control
The indictments specifically mentioned “brandishing firearms” as part of the threats. Under 18 U.S. Code section 924, that kicks in mandatory minimum sentences that start at 7 years for handguns, 10 years for rifles and shotguns, 15 years if any were found to have armor-piercing ammo, and even more time if there were silencers, explosives, or illegal weapons present.
While the initial Grand Jury indictment does not state “terrorism” as it should, in no way precludes additional counts or charges, including a number of those arrested who were in possession of guns in violation of prior felony convictions, probation and/or release agreements, destruction and theft of both federal and Oregon power company property (the video cameras) and lots more.
Anti-gay bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes by Melissa who finally after 2 years paid the $136,927 fine for refusing a lesbian couple service that covers the couple’s damages following the January 2013.
The Klein’s, have been given more than half a million dollars in donations, and payments in fees for performing at right-wing and hate group gathering like the Family Research Council’s yearly hatefest in Washington the Values Voters Summit.
Well the Klein’s it seems have taken a break from their Bigot Tour to make a video for the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal, in which Aaron and Melissa Klein read “mean tweets” while laughing and mocking their “ignorant” critics, and telling viewers they “pray for” those who are opposed their “KKK-ristianity”.
Over two years ago in January of 2013, Rachel Bowman and her mother went to their local Gresham, Oregon bakery, Sweet Cakes by Melissa, to order a wedding cake. The owners of the bakery Aaron Klein and his wife Melissa Klein refused the order, their reason, as they told Rachel and her mom, was that Rachel was marrying a woman, and baking a cake for a same-sex couple, they said, violated their Christian faith.
“I’m very sorry, I believe I have wasted your time,” Aaron Klein says he told Rachel Bowman in his court testimony. “We do not do cakes for same sex weddings.” Klein testified he also quoted Leviticus to Bowman and her mother.
Yesterday , a judge from the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) awarded Rachel Bowman-Cryer $75,000, and her wife, Laurel Bowman-Cryer, $60,000 in damages for their emotional suffering, and the discrimination they faced at the hands of the Klein’s and because of the verified death threats they received after their personal contact information was posted to Aaron Klein’s personal Facebook page.
“The facts of this case clearly demonstrate that the Klein’s unlawfully discriminated against the Complainants,” the BOLI ruling states. “Under Oregon law, businesses cannot discriminate or refuse service based on sexual orientation, just as they cannot turn customers away because of race, sex, disability, age or religion. Our agency is committed to fair and thorough enforcement of Oregon civil rights laws, including the Equality Act of 2007.”
The Klein’s have become well paid martyrs for religious right, have traveled the country for the past two years being well paid to attend anti-gay events such as the Family Research Council’s Values Voters Conference have claimed the lawsuit had bankrupted them and forced them out of business, which were scripted lies.
After Melissa Klein took to Facebook to announce the ruling, and to link to a GoFundMe account set up for them but not for long
Lisa Watson, of the bakery Cupcake Jones, started her own campaign to contact GoFundMe and report the campaign as being in violation of their terms of service. Watson’s own post on Facebook stated, “this business has been found GUILTY OF DISCRIMINATION and is being allowed to fund-raise to pay their penalty. The GoFundMe terms of service address hate speech, bigotry, criminal activity, and sexism among other things in their campaign…The amount of money they have raised in a matter of a few hours by thousands of anonymous cowards is disgusting.”
Late Friday night GoFundMe removed the Sweet Cakes campaign.
Via GoFundMe:
“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 money raised thus far will still be made available for withdrawal. While a different campaign was recently permitted for a pizzeria in Indiana, no laws were violated and the campaign remained live. However, 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.”
Sweet Cakes by Melissa, a bakery service with stores in both Gresham and Portland OR which refused to bake a lesbian couples wedding cake almost two years has been found guilty that they unlawfully discriminated against a same-sex couple by denying them full and equal access to a place of public accommodation” by refusing to bake them a wedding cake.
Oregon Live reports today. Judge Alan McCullough “found that the undisputed facts in the case supported charges of unlawful discrimination under the Oregon Equality Act.”
The ruling clears the way for a March 10 hearing which will convene to award damages to the same-sex couple, who at the time were Rachel Cryer and Laurel Bowman, and are now the Bowman-Cryers. over the business owners’ alleged religious beliefs and the violation of their customers’ civil rights.
Aaron and Melissa Klein the owners of SCBM have been the poster-bigots du jour of the Family Research Council’s latest “religious liberty” crusade.
Matt Stolhandske, a self-described evangelical Christian and board member of Evangelicals for Marriage Equality, a “Christian group” focused on having “gay unions” instead of same-sex marriages recognized by the Government, on Friday wrote in a column published on the Washington Post website explaining why he and his group are raising money in hopes of covering the fine levies on Melissa and Aaron Klein, the anti-gay owners of “Sweet Cakes by Melissa” a bakery in Portland, Oregon, refused to make a cake for a lesbian couple’s wedding
Stolhandske wrote, ‘The Kleins say the $150,000 fee will bankrupt her family. I’m raising money to help offset that cost. I’ll send whatever we raise along to the Klein family with a message of love and peace. I don’t want them to suffer. But I am also pleading with them and other Christians to stop using the name of Jesus to explain to the LGBT community why we don’t deserve access to the civil rights afforded to heterosexuals through the legal institution of marriage.’
The Kliens assert that they were expressing their religious freedom when they turned down the couple’s order and have since jumped on the Family Research Council hate group bandwagon appearing at the last Values Voters Summit.
Stolhandske says he expects criticism from the gay community for extending an ‘olive branch.’ “You’re an apologist for homophobes,” they tell me.
BetaBeat, is reporting that Portland, Oregon resident Adam Catanzarite found an anti-gay slur typed onto an Apple Store receipt for some headphones he purchased. Under his name, where his email address should have been it read “f@g.com.”
According to a Facebook post by Catanzarite, “The store manager did not do what he said he would to rectify the situation.” (Catanzarite’s request is unknown.)
Catanzarite went on to condemn the slur:
“Being queer and having worked with queer youth, I know first-hand that this is an example of the type of #homophobic beliefs and actions that lead young people to harm themselves. This type of action is NOT OKAY, especially from a company that prides itself on being LGBT inclusive and welcoming.”
In a separate Facebook post he explained: ‘Historically, my communities have faced a history that is filled with extreme violence by individuals who are victims of their own homophobia and the society that says homophobic behavior is okay.
‘The employee who entered f@g.com should not be fired (take a minute to let that settle in if you need to), but should be given an opportunity to learn about the impact of the use of the word and how these words impact the individuals who have been oppressed by them.
The incident doesn’t align with Apple’s general image as a champion of gay rights. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently marched with employees in the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade, and the company recently released a video celebrating its “commitment to equality and diversity” in the lead-up to the parade.
The employees name who ran the receipt has not been given to the public.
According to BetaBeat, Apple’s Cupertino headquarters had learned of the incident but had not yet commented.
Remember Sweet Cakes by Melissa, the “Christian”-owned bakery, that closed its doors earlier this year after its owners Aaron and Melissa Klein were found guilty of violating LGBT people’s rights by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries by refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple in 2013.
Well the bakery, now called “Sweet Cakes,” continues to exist as an online business and is gleefully baking cakes now for “ex-gay” organizations!
The Advocate, reports that the “online bakery” recently posted a picture on its Facebook page of some goods that it recently made for the Restored Hope Network, an ex-gay organization, saying in the caption “Cakes for Restored Hope Network. What a wonderful ministry!”
The Restored Hope Network is run by a self-identified “ex-lesbian” Anne Paulk, whose ex-husband John Paulk founded the ex-gay ministry Exodus International and who earlier this year admitted that he is still gay and that reparative ex-gay therapy doesn’t work in a Newsweek magazine article.
Self loathing lesbian Anne continues to claim that gay people can be changed into straight people, and recently posted on the Restored Hope Network Facebook page which I hope that you all will visit and leave a message.
And in case you are wondering Sweet Cakes still doesn’t bake wedding cakes for same-sex wedding. But they are willing to provide baked goods for celebrations of divorces, unmarried parents, stem-cell research, non-kosher barbecues and pagan solstice parties.
