The front line of LGBTQ equality isn’t courts or state houses. It’s bakeries.
In the wake of a national uproar after Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed a “religious freedom” bill that is seen as a thinly veiled attempt to allow anti-LGBTQ discrimination, the state has implemented a ban on cake.
“Cake has long been a flashpoint for LGBTQ equality,” explained a government spokesperson, citing the 2010 incident in which a college LGBT group tried to order rainbow cupcakes for National Coming Out Day. When an Indianapolis bakery refused, the mayor launched an investigation and the story made headlines. The spokesperson also noted similar happenings in Oregon, where a bakery was fined for refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, and in Colorado, where the state Civil Rights Commission similarly told a baker he must make requested wedding cakes for same-sex nuptials. More recently, another Colorado bakery refused to put anti-gay messages on a cake and is facing a religious discrimination complaint.
“We thought the religious freedom bill would put a stop to such rancor,” said the spokesperson. “Now, we see that it has caused even more turmoil. We felt the only solution is to ban the real source of discord: cake.”
The Pastry Prohibition Act of 2015 states that cake cannot be sold in any public place including bakeries, restaurants, schools, and coffee shops. Items included under the Act are layer cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, funnel cakes, fruitcakes, and bundt cakes, among others. An amendment to include whoopie pies, which several senators had argued were really pieces of cake held together by frosting, was narrowly defeated at the urging of a group of citizens calling themselves the “Makin’ Whoopie Coalition.”
Many people seemed dismayed at the passage of the bill. Sue Offen, a lawyer, said it was torte reform gone too far.
“It really frosts me,” said an Indianapolis man.
One woman tried to look on the bright side, though, saying, “I’m hoping things get batter soon.”
For more hard-hitting Mombian news from past Aprils, see:
- Lesbian Moms Raise Child Entirely on Hummus and Granola
- DARPA Announces Next-Generation Gaydar System
- Lesbian Mom Running for President
- New Social App Helps Lesbians Find Sperm Donors
- New Research Shows Children of LGBT Parents More Likely to Win Nobel Prizes
- Utah Mandates All Children to Be Raised by LGBT People
- “Gay Positioning System” Navigates Roads and Rights