By Dan Hanley
If you are connected to me on Facebook, Twittter, or Pinterest you know
that I recently found out about a bakery in my own town that told a gay
couple this past week that they would not make them a wedding cake.My first thought was that this could not possibly be true. Don't get me wrong, I am not ignorant to the reality of the world. But in Lakewood, CO?
Within a half hour my friend Drew Wilson (MileHighGayGuy) spoke with the owner of Masterpiece Bakery who confirmed that they would not be serving the gay community.
I was stunned.
I did not want to react with anger, hostility or violence, in my actions or in my words. So I went to my world of social media and I got busy.
First to Yelp. Dozens of people had already posted comments and reviews. I wanted to post something on Yelp for the same reason I am writing this blog: so people who support equality and are against bigotry and discrimination in any form will know not to shop at this bakery.
I then got onto Twitter and Facebook and asked those connected with me there to spread the word. And boy did they.
As all of this was happening I began to write about non-violence. For this guy to not want to do business with the gay community, well, that's his right. I doubt I can change his mind. (He has not stated why. His only comment was "use your imagination".) What I can do is make sure that we, this amazing community of people who will not accept bigotry and discrimination, will not financially support his business. I will keep telling people about this and keep asking them not to shop there.
And I will ask them to speak out against this in a nonviolent way. No threats of violence, no curse-laden phone calls. Simply saying "I heard about your decision on not making a wedding cake for a gay couple, I'm sickened by that, and I will not shop with you" is just fine.
We can stand our ground and fight the good fight without becoming people we do not want to be.
Now I am hungry for cake. Good, vegan cake. I wish Beet Box would deliver to me right now!
Thanks for reading and thank you for your support. My email is vegandude@msn.com is you would like to email me.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
