Anti-Gay Oregon Bakers Reap $352,000 From Christian Crowdfunding Site

Via the Washington Times:

A crowdfunding campaign for the Oregon bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa has set a site record by raising $352,500 in about two months after being kicked off the GoFundMe website, far exceeding the initial goal of $150,000. Jesse Wellhoefer, founder of Continue to Give, said the Sweet Cakes effort has raised more than any previous campaign on behalf of individuals in the three-year-old crowdfunding website’s history. Mr. Wellhoefer said his company had received “lots and lots” of complaints about the Sweet Cakes crowdfunding campaign, but that he has refused to remove it. “Lots of people have been asking us to take it off,” Mr. Wellhoefer said. “Our response has been, ‘Thank you for your concern, have a great day and God bless you.’” Launched May 5, the Sweet Cakes crowdfunding campaign has received 7,651 donations and thousands of messages of support such as, “Keep on fighting,” “God bless you,” and “Don’t back down!! We are standing with you.”

The amount raised is nearly triple the fine. Plus it appears the Kleins get to keep the $110K raised before GoFundMe pulled the plug. (Tipped by JMG reader Blair)

GoFundMe For Florida Enemy Of Satan

Remember the woman who tore down the Satanic Temple's holiday display at the Florida Capitol Building? Even though charges against her were dropped, she claims she lost her job and her home over the incident. Therefore send her money because Jesus.

My name is Susan Hemeryck, and I was arrested in Tallahassee, Florida on December 23, 2014 for standing against Satan when he tried to stake his claim on Christmas and in our State Capitol. His followers, members of The Satanic Temple, attacked Christianity and desecrated our holy celebration of Christ's birth by placing a "grossly offensive" satanic display in the same spot where the Nativity had been removed just hours earlier. Children coming to the Capitol on Christmas Eve hoping see baby Jesus saw only Satan instead. The Satanic Temple is also trying to place satanic books in Florida public schools and a life-size statue of Satan in Oklahoma. I lost my home and my job because I took a stand against this evil, and I need a little help with personal living expenses. I also have a wonderful attorney, Michael Bauer, who has stood by me through all of this, and we need your help in taking the next step in our efforts to legally keep Satan out of our Capitols and out of our schools. Won't you please help us to stand firm and hold the line against Satan? By the grace of God, and with your prayers and support, let's cast Satan out of America and back where he belongs!

The fundraiser is being promoted by gay death penalty advocate and BarbWire columnist Theodore Shoebat.

Thomas Peters Has The GoFundMe Sadz

GoFundMe Clarifies Policy: You Can't Raise Money In Defense Of Discriminatory Acts

Last week GoFundMe yanked the fundraising page for Oregon's Sweet Cakes bakery after complaints that the money beg was in violation of their posted ban on "campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual acts." The cancellation spawned immediately outrage across Teabagistan and many calls for a boycott of GoFundMe. Today the crowdfunding site clarifies its policy to explicitly ban campaigns to support those charged with "discriminatory acts."

Today we’re updating our terms to help address some confusion around how GoFundMe goes about reviewing campaigns and deciding what will be permitted on our platform. Specifically, we would like to clarify that GoFundMe relies on information from law enforcement and government agencies to help determine what actions our team will take regarding questionable campaigns. We would also like to acknowledge that while we cannot conduct in-depth investigations on every campaign that is created, we do reserve the right to act on pertinent information as it becomes available to us. GoFundMe will not allow campaigns that benefit individuals or groups facing formal charges or claims of serious violations of the law. The amended term can be found under the ‘What’s Not Allowed’ section of our terms. We are also informing users that GoFundMe reserves the right to share the content from a deleted campaign with law enforcement, donors or stated beneficiaries who wish to file a police report about any misuse of fundraising proceeds.

The new banning language: "Campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts." The Heritage Foundation and Alliance Defending Freedom are ever so pissed:

The difference in the wording of the policy is significant because neither the Christian bakers—Aaron and Melissa Klein—nor the Washington florist who also had her account shut down broke any criminal laws. Instead, both businesses were found guilty of violating civil anti-discrimination laws. “GoFundMe has the freedom to make their own policies and do business with whom they choose. That’s what makes it so ironic and hypocritical that GoFundMe has done the bidding of a movement that wages war against this same freedom,” Greg Scott, a spokesman for Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal organization that assists in cases like the Kleins, told The Daily Signal. "GoFundMe has facilitated fundraising for inane things like sending a man to a stranger’s bachelor party, but have now cut off families who face financial ruin and who’ve had their fundamental freedoms obliterated by unjust government action. If there is a better example of a company and culture with its priorities and loyalties completely upside down, I can’t think of it."

Before the page was yanked supporters of Sweet Cakes had raised $114K. It appears that the bakery will still get that money.

#Pizza4Equality Raises $160K For Cyndi Lauper's Homeless LGBT Youth Fund

Clip description:

In the 26 days leading up to #40ToNoneDay, #Pizza4Equality has raised $160,000 from 4,224 donors! The campaign began with very high goals but low expectations. The support exceeded expectations and provided not only a lot of money but a statement of where our values lie. We're wrapping up soon but wanted to release this thank you video for everyone! (Enjoy the music from Cyndi Lauper's Tony-award winning musical, Kinky Boots!) In it you can get glimpses of the people and programs associated with True Colors Fund. We encourage you to stay in touch with them and help their educational and advocacy efforts to end youth homelessness.

This is the work of activist Scott Wooledge! Donations continue to be accepted at the link above.

Heritage Foundation Vs GoFundMe

Yesterday the Heritage Foundation questioned demonstrators outside the Supreme Court, asking their opinion about GoFundMe's cancellation of the fundraising page of the Oregon bakers. They write:

Why does GoFundMe, a crowdsourcing website that raises money for a variety of personal causes and life events, get to choose who they do business with, but the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa do not? After GoFundMe shut down a campaign set up for Aaron and Melissa Klein, bakery owners who were fined $135,000 by the state of Oregon for refusing to make a cake for a lesbian wedding, The Daily Signal posed that question to people in the nation’s capitol. Standing outside the U.S. Supreme Court as the nine justices heard oral arguments over a high-stakes gay marriage case, advocates on both sides of the debate reacted to GoFundMe’s controversial decision.

Nobody gets the answer right.

Deleted: Cottonelle's GoFundMe Page

Apparently the homofacsists have claimed another victory as the GoFundMe page for Cottonelle Stutzman has been deleted, presumably for the same reason that the page for the Oregon bakery was removed.

Haters Have The GoFundMe Sadz

Todd Starnes writes at Fox News:

Within hours of the ruling, the Family Research Council facilitated the establishment of a GoFundMe account to help the Kleins raise the money the need. In less than eight hours, more than $100,000 was raised. However, late Friday GoFundMe pulled the plug — sending this message to would-be donors: “After careful review by our team, we have found the ‘Support Sweet Cakes By Melissa’ campaign to be in violation of our Terms and Conditions,” the message read. “The money raised thus far will still be made available for withdrawal.” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins blasted the harsh penalty levied against the Kleins. “The state of Oregon has given a new meaning to shotgun weddings,” Perkins said. “You will be forced to participate in same-sex weddings and violate your beliefs.”

It’s not exactly clear what led GoFundMe to drop the fundraising drive - but Perkins blamed it on gay activists. “This reveals two very important aspects of the redefinition of marriage, Americans are not going along with it and two - the intolerance of those trying to redefine marriage is historically unprecedented,” Perkins said. Samaritan's Purse, a Christian ministry run by Franklin Graham, has stepped up and offered to raise funds for the embattled Christian couple. Aaron Klein told me they will appeal the judge’s recommended fine. “All Americans should be free to live and work by their faith without the fear of the government punishing them,” he told me. Klein told me the gay rights activists won’t be satisfied until her family is living in a homeless shelter.

The Samaritan's Purse fundraising page does not show amounts.

GoFundMe Cancels Money Beg For Bakers

According the Family Research Council, late last night GoFundMe deleted the money beg for the Oregon bakers who yesterday were hit with a recommended $135K fine for refusing to serve a lesbian couple. Top conservative figures including Erick Erickson, Rick Santorum, and Tony Perkins had promoted the money beg to their followers. Apparently GoFundMe's terms of service do not allow raising money for those convicted of crimes.

UPDATE: GoFundMe has issued a statement.

"After careful review by our team, we have found the "Support Sweet Cakes By Melissa" campaign to be in violation of our Terms and Conditions. The money raised thus far will still be made available for withdrawal. While a different campaign was recently permitted for a pizzeria in Indiana, no laws were violated and the campaign remained live. However, the subjects of the "Support Sweet Cakes By Melissa" campaign have been formally charged by local authorities and found to be in violation of Oregon state law concerning discriminatory acts. Accordingly, the campaign has been disabled."

So it looks like they'll still get the $110K.