Syracuse bakery saves the day after lesbian couple was denied wedding cake
When Rebecca Riley- owner of Peace, Love, and Cupcakes in Syracuse, New York- read the online post about how another bakery refused to make a cake for a lesbian couple a month before their wedding, she decided to take action.
The couple, Desirie White and Jess Dowd of Berwick, Pennsylvania, had previously ordered a wedding cake from local bakery O Taste and See Delight.
White and Dowd took to social media when they learned their original baker has backed out.
Not so delightful after all
In a Facebook post on August 9, Desirie White shared emails from O Taste and See Delight informing them that the shop is breaking contract and refunding their money.
“With the nature of it I couldn’t keep quiet,” she said. “I didn’t want it to happen to others.”
“My refusal to make your cake is based on my fidelity to the God of Scripture, and my religious beliefs are combined with my business practices,” the shop’s owner wrote.
White was particularly upset by the emails as a religious person herself. “I know that MY GOD would not condemn or deny me because of who I am and who I love,” she explained.
Peace, Love, and Cupcakes to the rescue
Upon seeing White’s post about being denied a cake for her and Dowd’s upcoming wedding, Rebecca Riley took matters into her own hands.
The decision to step in and bake a wedding cake for the couple was a no-brainer for her, but she was unable to comment on White and Dowd’s Facebook posts.
She started reaching out to friends and making comments on other posts to try to connect with the couple. She posted on her shop’s page and asked if anyone could help her contact them.
“I literally gave this no thought,” Riley said in a reaction post on her shop’s Facebook page.
“I read the post, I got angry, and knew I had to channel that anger into something beautiful. I looked at where they were, checked the GPS and got to work trying to reach them,” she shared.
Peace, Love, and Cupcakes is nearly three hours away from White and Dowd in Pennsylvania.
‘We’re gonna make it happen’
Rebecca Riley and Desirie White were finally able to connect.
They discussed what the couple would consider their perfect wedding cake. Because of White’s food allergies, a vegan lemon cake was the answer.
Riley told the couple that her vegan cake recipe is chocolate, but she would test a bunch of recipes to find one she liked.
Failing that, she said she would have Golden Hour Baking in Syracuse make a small lemon vegan cake and she would make a larger chocolate cake.
She pledged this would all be free for the couple. “We’re gonna make it happen,” Riley said.
Gratitude from the bottom of their gay hearts
White teared up as she explained how Riley’s gesture of love and support moved her. “Some people in my family wouldn’t go this far for us,” she shared.
She added in a follow-up Facebook post: “One person turned their back on us and a whole community stepped up to stand beside us and the feeling I get from that is just so overwhelming… from the bottom of our gay hearts, thank you.”