Posted on 03/05/2015 8:55:39 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
An Indianapolis bakery that drew national media attention a year ago after refusing to make a cake for a same-sex “wedding” has closed its doors.
Randy and Trish McGath, the owners of the former 111 Cakery, said they closed the business down because Trish, the shop’s primary baker, was tired and wanted to spend more time with her grandchildren. The work was “wearing [Trish] out,” said Randy, who has since transitioned to a job selling recreational vehicles.
Last March, the McGaths endured a campaign of internet harassment by homosexual activists after a local television station reported that the couple had declined to produce a cake for a gay couple’s “commitment ceremony.” Outraged social media posters accused the Christian couple of homophobia and hatred, and called for boycotts.
But the McGaths said their refusal to make a cake for a homosexual “commitment ceremony” had nothing to do with hate. If they hated homosexuals, Randy McGath said, they never would have located their bakery in one of Indianapolis’s biggest gay neighborhoods in the first place.
However, McGath told USA Today they felt they had to draw the line at “be[ing] party to a [homosexual] commitment ceremony,” because, according to the teachings of their Christian faith, such a ceremony celebrates “a commitment to sin.”
“There was zero hate here,” McGath said. “We were just trying to be right with our God.”
McGath said that, despite calls for boycotts by homosexual activists, the business actually enjoyed a surge of new business in the wake of the publicity. Some patrons driving up to two hours’ round trip just to buy a donut from the shop, in order to support the couple’s decision to stand up for their values.
"We had people from all over," McGath told USA Today.
The spike in business dropped off after about three months, but sales remained brisk, with overall levels staying at or above what they were before the controversy, McGath said. The business was still in the black when it closed on December 31.
A message posted on the former bakery’s website reads: “We have decided not to renew our lease, so we are now closed. We want to thank everyone for your patronage, support, and friendship. It has been a true pleasure to serve you.”
The message concludes with the words “Ephesians 2:8” – a Bible verse that reads, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
I often wondered how many bakeries this gay couple called before they found one that refused service.
That’s what they do. But two as can play that game.
The McGrath’s are a class act.
Got an suggestion...
Send the homos to a Muslim bakery for their wedding cake.
I’m sure if the bakers are Sunni they will help this loving couple cut their cake with a knife.
Sorry, but it is terrible that someone has to close down dues to their beliefs! Something is very wrong here and I think that most folks think that it is true. Too bad that the Government has the last say...
Yes, it is despicable that they have to close down for their beliefs! Who is coming to help them? Hello?
No First Amendment here. That’s for sure.
Same sex marriage wasn’t even recognized by the state at the time of the supposed ‘crime’.
I think it's kinda funny what happened here.
As with male hairdressers, there is no shortage of gay cake bakers. This gay couple probably called 27 willing bakeries before the McGaths politely refused.
So the gays go high and right, organizing a boycott.
And what happens next? Good people flood the McGaths with business, sales spike and they're able to close down in the black, financially secure to pursue other interests.
Read the story. They weren't shut down. They actually saw sales increase after the "boycott".
The wife wanted to spend time with her grandchildren while her husband got into the recreational vehicle business. Their bakery closed in the black, running a profit.
We no longer have the right to free association.
These kind of nonsense social fads are cyclical. The problem is going to be throttling back the inevitable backlash, in that we don't want to fill ditches with arrogant gay bodies.
it is not about sexual equality but the greed for power. Pure and simple.
That is the power of the shakedown as taught and employed by the likes of Sharpton and Jackson so successfully for years.
If we start “filling ditches” it probably won’t be mostly sexual deviants in there, but a violent group who won’t assimilate or contribute much to society but live to take. And no, I don’t specifically mean Muslims.
Just a whimsy of mine.
I cannot imagine ordering fudge brownies from gay bakers.
Sheer malice, but they dare to accuse others of “hate crimes.” God pity them.
If you think that the commotion had nothing to do with it.... Some people don’t like the “noise machine” called celebrity.
Really a shame I’s say! You seem to think that others can not believe anything that you don’t. That is not First Amendment territory, so maybe you should rethink that...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.