Bryan Fischer
Liberals: bakeries should take a stand with cakes
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
Host of "Focal Point" on American Family Radio, 1-3pm CT, M-F www.afr.net
LGBT activists have suddenly discovered that it's important for bakeries to take a stand with the cakes that they bake.
The Freeport Bakery in Sacramento is getting loads of LGBT support after it caught some flack for baking a transgendered-Ken (of Ken and Barbie fame) cake. Ken wore a pink dress made out of frosting, and is accessorized with a sash, a tiara, and jewelry.
The owner, Marlene Goetzeler, baked the cake for a birthday party, thought it was "a really cool cake," and was surprised at the reaction when she posted a picture of the Ken cake on Facebook.
She almost immediately began receiving critical comments, and lost dozens of Facebook likes and "potential business" (according to the local Fox affiliate) as a result.
Said Goetzeler, "I was shocked that somebody would be offended."
One of the men who attended the party said the controversy is "ridiculous" since "it was just a cake."
When the LGBT community and its supporters got wind of the fracas, hundreds of them came to the bakery's defense, both on social media and at the store itself.
The owner said that at the beginning of the dustup, she thought the issue was not a big deal. "But now," she says, "I realize how important it is to take a stand if you believe in something."
Whoa. All of a sudden liberals and advocates of non-normative sexual practices believe that those who bake cakes should use them to take a stand for what they believe in. They should be celebrated and applauded for doing so, not criticized and punished. Why, it's more than just a cake, it's a statement. It's not just flour and eggs and sugar, it represents a principled stand for your most deeply cherished values.
So the LGBT crowd is prepared to make a hero out of someone who uses baked goods to take a stand on a contentious issue of human sexuality. This is despite the documented fact that transgenderism is not something to be celebrated, promoted, or endorsed in any way. Research indicates that 41% of those who undergo surgical mutilation in a vain pursuit of sex reassignment attempt suicide at some point (compared to 5% in the general population), and 30% of them succeed.
Two pre-eminent psychiatrists at Johns Hopkins University, one of the leading medical centers in the entire world, say there is absolutely no scientific evidence that people are "born that way" when it comes to either transgenderism or homosexuality.
"The understanding of sexual orientation as an innate, biologically fixed property of human beings – the idea that people are 'born that way' – is not supported by scientific evidence," say Drs. Lawrence Mayer and Paul McHugh. This is a conclusion they reached after a thorough review of 200 peer-reviewed studies on the subject.
In fact, they add, there are a host of pathologies associated with gender confusion. Compared to the general population, non-heterosexuals are at an "elevated risk for a variety of adverse health and mental health outcomes," including anxiety disorders, depression, and suicide. Further, they are at an elevated risk of substance abuse and intimate partner violence.
Over 90% of children who experience some mental and emotional confusion about their sexual identity outgrow it as they head toward adulthood. Thus, say the authors, "There is no evidence that all children who express gender-atypical thoughts or behavior should be encouraged to become transgender."
We oppose the normalization of transgenderism not because we hate people but because we love them. We don't want anybody to wind up anxious, depressed, suicidal, addicted, and beaten. If the bridge is out on the road ahead, people need to be warned for their own protection.
But despite all this, LGBT activists insist that those who use cakes to take a stand for their values when it comes to human sexuality are to be praised and celebrated and not demonized.
So here is the bottom line: when do Aaron and Melissa Klein get their money and their bakery back?
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
August 25, 2016
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
Host of "Focal Point" on American Family Radio, 1-3pm CT, M-F www.afr.net
LGBT activists have suddenly discovered that it's important for bakeries to take a stand with the cakes that they bake.
The Freeport Bakery in Sacramento is getting loads of LGBT support after it caught some flack for baking a transgendered-Ken (of Ken and Barbie fame) cake. Ken wore a pink dress made out of frosting, and is accessorized with a sash, a tiara, and jewelry.
The owner, Marlene Goetzeler, baked the cake for a birthday party, thought it was "a really cool cake," and was surprised at the reaction when she posted a picture of the Ken cake on Facebook.
She almost immediately began receiving critical comments, and lost dozens of Facebook likes and "potential business" (according to the local Fox affiliate) as a result.
Said Goetzeler, "I was shocked that somebody would be offended."
One of the men who attended the party said the controversy is "ridiculous" since "it was just a cake."
When the LGBT community and its supporters got wind of the fracas, hundreds of them came to the bakery's defense, both on social media and at the store itself.
The owner said that at the beginning of the dustup, she thought the issue was not a big deal. "But now," she says, "I realize how important it is to take a stand if you believe in something."
Whoa. All of a sudden liberals and advocates of non-normative sexual practices believe that those who bake cakes should use them to take a stand for what they believe in. They should be celebrated and applauded for doing so, not criticized and punished. Why, it's more than just a cake, it's a statement. It's not just flour and eggs and sugar, it represents a principled stand for your most deeply cherished values.
So the LGBT crowd is prepared to make a hero out of someone who uses baked goods to take a stand on a contentious issue of human sexuality. This is despite the documented fact that transgenderism is not something to be celebrated, promoted, or endorsed in any way. Research indicates that 41% of those who undergo surgical mutilation in a vain pursuit of sex reassignment attempt suicide at some point (compared to 5% in the general population), and 30% of them succeed.
Two pre-eminent psychiatrists at Johns Hopkins University, one of the leading medical centers in the entire world, say there is absolutely no scientific evidence that people are "born that way" when it comes to either transgenderism or homosexuality.
"The understanding of sexual orientation as an innate, biologically fixed property of human beings – the idea that people are 'born that way' – is not supported by scientific evidence," say Drs. Lawrence Mayer and Paul McHugh. This is a conclusion they reached after a thorough review of 200 peer-reviewed studies on the subject.
In fact, they add, there are a host of pathologies associated with gender confusion. Compared to the general population, non-heterosexuals are at an "elevated risk for a variety of adverse health and mental health outcomes," including anxiety disorders, depression, and suicide. Further, they are at an elevated risk of substance abuse and intimate partner violence.
Over 90% of children who experience some mental and emotional confusion about their sexual identity outgrow it as they head toward adulthood. Thus, say the authors, "There is no evidence that all children who express gender-atypical thoughts or behavior should be encouraged to become transgender."
We oppose the normalization of transgenderism not because we hate people but because we love them. We don't want anybody to wind up anxious, depressed, suicidal, addicted, and beaten. If the bridge is out on the road ahead, people need to be warned for their own protection.
But despite all this, LGBT activists insist that those who use cakes to take a stand for their values when it comes to human sexuality are to be praised and celebrated and not demonized.
So here is the bottom line: when do Aaron and Melissa Klein get their money and their bakery back?
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
