Oregon Appeals Court affirms application of state public accommodations law to cake shop that refused to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple

In Klein v. Or. Bureau of Labor & Indus., 2017 Ore.App. LEXIS 1598 (2017), the Court of Appeals of Oregon affirmed an administrative finding that Sweetcakes by Melissa violated the state public accommodations law when it refused to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple. The case is similar to the Masterpiece Cakeshop case currently being considered by the US Supreme Court because the cake shop based its claim on the first amendment's protection of free speech (as well as a claim of religious freedom). 

The owner gave religious reasons for denying service, quoting Leviticus and calling the customers "an abomination."

The court rejected the owner's argument that the refusal to serve was "on account of" the owner's religious convictions rather than on account of sexual orientation. It also rejected the argument that the refusal to serve was based on the "conduct" of getting married rather than the "status" of sexual orientation. It also rejected claims based on the first amendment's free speech and religious freedom clauses, noting that the precedents of the Supreme Court uniformly upheld application of public accommodation laws to businesses open to the general public even when those laws have an incidental effect on speech.