Christian Baker Who Faced Death Threats Over Gay Wedding Cake Won't Back Down

The owner of a California bakery is heading back to court after scoring repeated religious liberty victories for declining to make a same-sex wedding cake. Cathy Miller, owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California, is again facing officials' furor after the state appealed a ruling last year by the California Superior Court of Kern County that was in her favor. Miller said her battle began in 2017 after she declined to make a cake for a gay couple and California subsequently opened an investigation into the matter. "About six and a half years ago, we had four people come in, and it was two men and two women," Miller said. "And I thought it was a bride and a groom and their best man and maid of honor. But the baker soon found out she was being asked to make a wedding cake for a same-sex union — something she was unwilling to create due to her Christian faith. "I politely told them ... 'I'm sorry. I can't hurt my Lord and Savior. I can't participate in the union,'" Miller said, noting she offered to refer them to another bakery that would be happy to make their cake. "And so we thought everything was fine, and everything was not fine." It didn't take long for the denial story to make its way into the media and metastasize into a massive story. Miller said "social media went crazy" and harassment and "horrible emails" followed. "I was shocked, and I know they were upset, but I did not think that it would go this far," Miller told CBN News in a 2022 interview. "I did not realize that, within two hours, we would be bombarded by hate mail, death threats, rape threats. The media was storming into our bakery." Plus, a legal battle unfolded, with Miller inevitably going to court to defend her religious liberties. Miller has received both support and blowback, with the latter coming among those infuriated over her refusal to make the cake. She said she's been impacted, physically, emotionally, and financially. Amid the anger, the baker said there's been some confusion over her intentions and made it clear the issue isn't about declining to serve the LGBTQ community. __ "The Newsmakers Podcast" is a daily podcast based on "Newsmakers," a weekly TV show hosted by Billy Hallowell on The CBN News Channel and the CBN News YouTube Channel. You can watch "Newsmakers" on Thursday evenings to see three actors, pastors, authors, politicians, and other notable figures discussing issues of the day. On the podcast, we focus on one special interview each day. Be sure to subscribe today on your favorite podcast platforms.