A self-identified gay evangelical Christian is helping bakery owners Aaron and Melissa Klein raise money to pay $150,000 in fines after the couple refused to make a cake for a lesbian wedding.
The Kleins refused to bake a the wedding cake for the same-sex wedding in September 2013. This year, the Christian couple was charged with violating the civil rights of lesbian couple Rachel Cryer and Laurel Bowman with a penalty of $150,000 in fines reports The Christian Post.
Matt Stolhandske, who is on the board of Evangelicals for Marriage Equality said he felt compelled to help the couple, despite their different viewpoints on marriage.
Stolhandske said, "As a gay man, I should hate Melissa and Aaron Klein…But I don't hate the Kleins."
He continued, "The Kleins say the $150,000 fee will bankrupt her family. I'm raising money to help offset that cost. I'll send whatever we raise along to the Klein family with a message of love and peace. I don't want them to suffer.”
"But I am also pleading with them and other Christians to stop using the name of Jesus to explain to the LGBT community why we don't deserve access to the civil rights afforded to heterosexuals through the legal institution of marriage.”
Stolhandske’s campaign has raised over $3,500 since it was launched.
Publication date: October 23, 2014