The "Christian" Baker vs. the Gay Couple

{{{image from washingtontimes.com}}}

A few years ago a gay couple asked a bakery in the USA to create a cake for their wedding. The owners of the bakery were a conservative Christian couple and they refused to do this.

{{{If someone is 'conservative' they tend to not like it when things change. They have 'old-fashioned' values. Liberals tend to be more 'open-minded' about change.}}}

The bakery owners felt that it was their right to refuse to provide service to a gay couple because of their religious beliefs. Many conservative Christians believe it is wrong for gay folks to get married.

However, in the USA there are very strong anti-discrimination laws. 

{{{Discrimination is when action is taken to deny someone some type of service because of who or what the person is. Prejudice is an attitude, discrimination is a type of action.}}} 

So the gay couple argued that the bakery owners discriminated against them because of their sexual preference. A government organization agreed with the gay couple and fined the bakery owners $135,000. This is, of course, a huge amount of money.

How do you feel about this issue? Even if you agree with the gay couple, how do you feel about the fine? Do you think the fine was fair? Why do you think the government fined them so severely?

An article about this issue:

http://wkrg.com/2017/12/29/sweet-cakes-pays-135k-fine-in-gay-wedding-cake-case/

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

legally-binding - this means the decision is a legal decision which must be obeyed. To bind is to tie something up. 

The Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) - any 'bureau' is going to be a government office. This is an office in Oregon which monitors businesses to make sure they follow all the laws in the USA.

to net (that netted) - to net something is to collect or get something, like catching fish in a net

discrimination - remember that discrimination is an action, prejudice is an attitude

a state exemption - if you are exempt from some type of law, it means the law does not apply to you. So the owners of this store believed that because they have an anti-gay religious belief, this protected them (made them exempt) from anti-discrimination laws. They were wrong.

being appealed - the owners are taking this matter to a higher court to get the decision overturned, if possible 

to be a beneficiary of someone/something - to get a benefit, to get something good or a reward

an evangelical Christian - these are 'super' Christians. Very, very, very conservative. To be an evangelical Christian means you believe so strongly in the Christian religion that you feel you have to encourage everyone to become a Christian.