Bakery in Oregon fined for refusing to bake cake for same-sex couple

GRESHAM, OR -- Two bakers from Oregon are now being forced to pay after they refused to bake a same-sex couple a cake - and they're also speaking out.

Melissa and Aaron Klein used to owner Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, Oregon.

On Thursday, they found out that they have to pay $135,000 for their refusal to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.

Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries made the final ruling.

"For this to go this far, it's ridiculous. It should scare every American," Aaron Klein said.

"I asked for the name of the bride and groom. She informed me that it was two brides. And I literally apologized to her. I said I'm sorry, I didn't mean to waste your time."

Aaron says that he felt providing a cake went against his and his wife's religious beliefs. They are Christian.

"She was asking me to not only to bake the cake, Melissa to decorate the cake, design the cake, but then show up at the wedding. There's so much more to it than most people understand," he said.

After the incident, the couple had to shut down the business when vendors cut all ties with them.

The Kleins say that they are being punished by the state for exercising their constitutional rights and utilizing them to set an example.

They plan to appeal to a higher court.

"We've had almost a weekly occurrence where we've had somebody send us hate mail," Aaron Klein said.

The two women who filed the initial complaint say they have suffered as well.

In a statement issued Thursday, they said: "It's been a horrible ordeal for our entire family… We enduring daily, hateful attacks on social media, received death threats, and feared for our family's safety."