Bakery Facing Eviction for Refusing to Make Rainbow Confections?

An Indianapolis bakery that refused to fill an order of rainbow-decorated confections for a gay event may have violated local anti-discrimination ordinances, but the tempest over the family-run business having turned away a university group was sparked by the words of a mall board member rather than by questions of inclusion or community values that both sides say are important, but which each side interprets differently.

A local business leader noted to the media that the bakery does not have a lease and is in its current space on a month-to-month basis, but cautioned that it would be "premature" to make a statement on the eventual outcome of the controversy.

But the right-wing blogosphere has turned the story into one about a family business being shut down. A story originating at anti-gay religious site OneNewsNow declares that the bakery "now faces eviction," and while the text of the story has remained the same as it has been re-posted at religious and conservative sites, the headlines have morphed into miniature dramas of decent folk being bullied by radical gays.

"Bakery Turns Down Participation in Gay Activism, Might Be Evicted," one site headlined the story.

"Bakery Won't Bake Homosexual Cookies, Now Faces Eviction," a headline at another site blared.

The original text was posted at OneNewsNow under the headline, "Bakery displays morals, now faces eviction." The story went up on Sept. 30, and told readers that the family-owned business could be evicted because "owner David Stockton took a moral stand and did not want to endorse homosexual activity."

A readers' poll associated with the story offered three choices for viewers to vote on. "What does this story most clearly demonstrate to you about the current culture?" the poll asked. The three choices included, "Radical homosexual activists demand tolerance but seldom display it themselves," "Communities are moving further and further away from encouraging traditional values," and "Business owners risk their livelihood by trying to live out their moral values."

"They weren't asking to petition for anything, they were just ordering cupcakes for an event," Rebecca Scherpelz told the media when the story first broke last month.

The flap began when a student group from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis approached City Market bakery Just Cookies for rainbow-colored goodies to serve during an observance of National Coming Out Day, which supports GLBT people in their efforts to live openly and honestly. The group and was turned away.

"When I explained it to him the nature of the celebration, the gentleman told me that it was against their morals and values to do so, and then hung up on me," the university's Heather Browning told local station Channel 6 News.

"I explained we're a family-run business, we have two young, impressionable daughters and we thought maybe it was best not to do that," bakery co-=owner David Stockton told local news channel Fox 59.

In short order, controversy ensued. "Growing the City Market through offering a better product means little when the people offering a better product can decide who they want to sell to and who they don't," said a spokesperson for the city, Robert Vane.

The head of the board for City Market, Wayne Schmidt, told the press that it was too early to make statements about what the eventual result might be, but added that since the bakery pays its rent on a monthly basis, its owners could in theory be asked to move from the business' current location, where Just Cookies has been in operation for two decades. Schmidt went on to say, "It's not a matter of can we afford to [see Just Cookies depart from the City Market] or not, it's a matter of what's the right thing to do." Schmidt did not say that the "right thing to do" would be to ask the bakery to leave, however.

But right-wing groups responded as though he had. "What a disgrace when municipalities cater to the likes of a gaggle of perverts who believe shoving one's pee-pee into another's poo-poo merits 'special' consideration," declared a posting at Free Republic.com, a conservative chat site where GLBT-related news is posted and discussed at length on a regular basis.

"This, from a group demanding 'tolerance,' " another posted, to which a third chat participant responded, "Tolerance as long as you agree with their viewpoint!"

"Did you think you'd be allowed to have an opinion?" another posting read. "Wait until the army has special offices on every base and ship to root out anti-gay thought."

But the university itself spoke out in favor of allowing the bakery to have its own say in whether or not it would fill the order. Fox 59 reported, "IUPUI's spokesperson said the school has no formal complaint against the bakery and added embracing diversity means allowing the business owners the right to their opinion and the right to choose how to serve its customers, as long as those customers are not discriminated against."

While the tempest was brewing, the student group's order was accepted by another bakery. Several attempts by EDGE to reach Just Cookies by phone and determine whether the business really was in any danger of eviction were unsuccessful. The number listed for the bakery reached only a busy signal prior to 3:00 p.m. EST. At that time, an attempt at calling Just Cookies resulted not in a busy signal, but in ringing that was not answered either by a human being or by an answering machine.