A year after refusing to provide cake for gay ‘wedding,’ Christian bakery closes
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| Español: Intercambio de anillos entre los novios (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
INDIANAPOLIS, March 5, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – 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.”
