California bakery under fire for refusing to bake wedding cake for two gay couples

A bakery owned by Christians has taken down its website and social media page after it drew widespread criticism for refusing to bake same-sex wedding cakes for two couples.

Cathy Miller, owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California, made the decision to take down her shop's website and Facebook page due to the "bombardment of negativity" she received for refusing to bake the wedding cake.

The criticisms came after Ted G. Freitas posted a story on Facebook on Saturday about the appointment he and his partner Adam Ramos had with Miller. Freitas recounted that Miller referred them to another bakery after learning that the cake was for a same-sex wedding.

About an hour after Freitas posted the story, Eileen Del Rio also made a post saying the bakery also declined to bake a cake for her wedding with her same-sex partner earlier that week.

"She don't condone same sex marriages so refused to make our wedding cake and set up our order. She wanted all our information to send to another bakery so they could make it," Del Rio wrote on her Facebook page, referring to Miller.

Miller, who had been referring same-sex couples who want a wedding cake to a competitor called Gimmee Some Sugar, explained that her conscience does not allow her to participate in an event that would violate her Christian beliefs.

Tastries bakery has reportedly received a barrage of negative reviews from LGBT activists on Yelp and TripAdvisor in an effort to tank the business.

"I'm really hurt by this. I don't think we should be picked on because of our beliefs," Miller said, as reported by Breitbart News.

Stephanie Caughell-Fisher, owner of Gimme Some Sugar Bakery, said that her business is also receiving some backlash for accepting the referrals from Tastries.

She explained that she did not immediately call Miller over her refusal to serve same-sex couples because she believes that it was not her business to tell her competitor how to operate her bakery. She also noted that it would have been seen as self-serving if she attacked her competitor.

Some have raised questions whether Miller's decision may have violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits businesses from refusing services to people in a host of protected classes, including people of diverse sexual orientations.

Miller said on Monday that she is hoping that all sides could find a peaceful solution to the situation.

"As Christians we have a love for everyone," she said. "We want to embrace everyone. We are all God's children. We are happy to make birthday cakes and cupcakes and cookies and brownies for everyone. We want to celebrate each individual regardless," she added.