The Oregon bakery that rose to national prominence when it refused to bake cakes for same-sex couples is now producing cakes for a prominent ex-gay ministry, the Advocate reported today.
Sweet Cakes by Melissa closed its doors in September of 2013, but continues to exist as an online delivery business. One of its current clients is the ex-gay ministry known as The Restored Hope Network, whose purpose is "restoring hope to those broken by sexual and relational sin especially those impacted by homosexuality."
The cakes were baked for the group's annual Hope Conference, which was hosted in Portland this year. The conference featured talks about how ex-gays can "endure over the long haul" and overcome the "thinking errors" caused by their "sexual addiction."
The Restored Hope Network is run by "ex-lesbian" Anne Paulk, whose marriage to another ex-gay advocate, John Paulk, ended in divorce last year after he determined that he was no longer a "formerly gay" man.
On the thread that emerged after Sweet Cakes by Melissa posted images of the cakes on Facebook, Paulk wrote that the hatred levied at the company is evidence that gay marriage hurts people.
"Unfortunately, you have been targeted by gay activists and those who claim that gay marriage won't have any impact on other people," she wrote on Facebook. "The impact is shown clearly through this thread with hate leveled at a Godly couple. The very ones claiming hate are the ones doling it out."
[Image via Sweet Cakes by Melissa's official Facebook page]
