The Oregon bakery owners who ignited a national controversy by refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple on Monday quietly paid a state-ordered $135,000 damages award and then some. 
 
 Aaron Klein, co-owner of the shuttered Sweet Cakes by Melissa, walked into the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries' Portland office and handed over a check for $136,927.07, an amount including accrued interest, agency spokesman Charlie Burr said. 
 
 Earlier this month, the labor bureau recovered nearly $7,000 additional funds from the Kleins with the help of the state Department of Justice and a private collections agency, Burr said. The money came from a garnished bank account, he said. 
 
 Aaron and Melissa Klein had refused to pay damages of $135,000 to Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer, claiming financial hardship despite three online fundraising accounts set up by supporters that netted them at least $515,000 as of late September. Their reversal of course was first reported by Willamette Week. 
 
 On July 2, Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian ordered the Kleins to pay damages for emotional and mental suffering, saying they had violated the women's civil rights by discriminating on the basis of their sexual orientation. 
 
 Rachel Bowman-Cryer visited the Gresham bakery with her mother in January 2013 to order a cake for a civil commitment ceremony. Aaron Klein, working alone that day, turned her away, citing his Christian beliefs against same-sex marriage. 
 
 The women filed complaints with the state, triggering a national debate over the Kleins' claims of religious freedom in the face of anti-discrimination laws that require Oregon businesses to serve the public equally. 
 
 Tyler Smith, a Canby attorney representing the Kleins, said payment of the debt does not mean his clients have abandoned their appeal of Avakian's order. The Oregon Court of Appeals is likely to hear arguments next year but Smith said it made sense to pay now while the case is pending rather than incur additional interest charges. 
 
 The bureau "was attempting to charge interest rates of 9 percent, equating to $35 a day, and seeking to garnish any assets of the Kleins so they couldn't earn interest on the money that had been donated to them," Smith said. "The prudent thing to do, given the generosity of people who have contributed funds, was to take care of it and continue the fight." 
 
 Through their lawyers, the Kleins twice asked Avakian for a stay to delay enforcement of his order while the Court of Appeals considers their case. The commissioner rejected the requests on July 14 and again July 24, citing the amounts raised for the Kleins from crowdfunding sites. State officials subsequently went to court to establish their right to place a property lien or other assets belonging to the couple. 
 
 "We certainly wish (the bureau) would have stayed collections efforts during the course of the appeal," Smith said. 
 
 Altogether, the state has received roughly $144,000 from the Kleins - an amount that Burr acknowledged might be in excess of what was owed as of Monday, Dec. 28. 
 
 "We have been in touch with their lawyers throughout the process," Burr said, providing them with exact amounts due to satisfy the debt. The figure has changed from day to day because of accruing interest. 
 
 If the Kleins have overpaid, the agency will look at returning the difference, Burr said. The Kleins closed their Gresham bakery in 2013 and now operate out of their home in Sandy. 
 
 Paul Thompson, a Portland lawyer representing the Bowman-Cryers, said, "My clients are happy the Kleins paid the fine and are moving forward, and hope to see the ruling upheld on appeal." 
 
 -- George Rede 
 
 grede@oregonian.com 
 
 503-294-4004 
 
 @georgerede ||||| Antigay Bakers Set Crowdfunding Record 
 
 Shed no tears for the owners of an Oregon bakery ordered to pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple they turned away — they’ve raised more than three times that much through crowdfunding websites. 
 
 Aaron and Melissa Klein, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, have raised more than $370,000 through Continue to Give, a crowdfunding site specializing in faith-based projects. That’s the most money raised on behalf of individuals in the site’s three-year history, founder Jesse Wellhoefer told The Washington Times this week. 
 
 The Kleins also raised $109,000 through GoFundMe, reports Portland newspaper The Oregonian. GoFundMe discontinued the bakers’ campaign because it violated the site’s policy against funding beneficiaries involved in discrimination, but it allowed the Kleins to keep the money raised. They have also received an undisclosed amount through Samaritan’s Purse, a charitable organization headed by antigay evangelist Franklin Graham, The Oregonian notes. 
 
 The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, in a ruling that became final this month, ordered the Kleins to pay $135,000 in damages to Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer for having discriminated against them in 2013 by refusing to provide a cake for their wedding. What Sweet Cakes’ owners did, Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian wrote, “was more than the denial of the product”; it was a denial of the couple’s right to participate equally in society. “It was the epitome of being told there are places you cannot go, things you cannot do … or be,” he wrote. 
 
 The Kleins have vowed to appeal the order to the Oregon Court of Appeals, but “assuming the appeal is accepted, it could be months or even years before it reaches the appellate court,” The Oregonian reports. 
 
 In a statement issued this week through the Kleins’ lawyers — they are represented by the antigay Alliance Defending Freedom — Melissa Klein said they aren’t sure how exactly how they will use the funds they have raised. They have closed their storefront and operate the business from their home now, but “are continuing to face financial hardship,” she said, and they are “unsure at this time what other costs may be associated with our case in the future.” They are also waiting to see what the tax treatment will be for the money and whether the labor bureau will stay the collection of the damages during the appeal. ||||| Supporters of the Oregon bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa are putting their money where their mouth is. 
 
 A crowdfunding campaign for the embattled business has eclipsed $350,000 in little more than two months - a record amount on the Continue to Give site, The Washington Times reports. 
 
 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, the Times said. 
 
 As of noon Wednesday (Pacific time), the campaign had raised $358,500 from 7,750 donors, more than doubling the $150,000 goal announced when it began May 5 and far exceeding a potential six-figure debt faced by Sweet Cakes. 
 
 Coupled with $109,000 raised through GoFundMe and an undisclosed amount raised through Samaritan's Purse, online donors have contributed upwards of $450,000 to help bakery owners Aaron and Melissa Klein in their legal battle with a state agency that found they discriminated against a lesbian couple when they refused to make them a wedding cake. 
 
 The Kleins' refusal, based on their Christian beliefs against same-sex marriage, has become a cause celebre among religious freedom proponents who contend bakers, florists and photographers shouldn't have to provide wedding-related services that go against their religious principles. 
 
 Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries officials say the Kleins' religious beliefs are trumped by state laws that prohibit businesses from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and have ordered the couple to pay $135,000 to Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer for emotional damages. 
 
 The Kleins have pledged to appeal Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian's July 2 ruling to the Oregon Court of Appeals. They closed their Gresham bakery in 2013 and continue to operate the business from their home in Sandy. 
 
 Crowdfunding efforts for the Kleins began in late April, after a BOLI hearings officer recommended they pay $135,000 in damages. 
 
 GoFundMe, the largest web-based crowdfunding site, removed the Sweet Cakes campaign when it ran afoul of terms of service prohibiting campaigns "in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts" but allowed the Kleins to keep $109,000 raised on their behalf. 
 
 Continue to Give, based in Wisconsin, stepped forward days later. The faith-based giving platform also handles fundraising for churches and nonprofit organizations. 
 
 Wellhoefer on Wednesday declined to say what the previous site record was for an individual campaign on Continue to Give. 
 
 The Sweet Cakes campaign "was quiet a couple weeks ago, but it really picked up when the Supreme Court made its decision (legalizing same-sex marriage)," he said. 
 
 In a statement released Wednesday through the couple's lawyers, Melissa Klein said: 
 
 "We are humbled and thankful for the generosity and support of the American public. The amount shows that Americans all over this country are acting on their beliefs and loudly saying that they do not agree with a government that punishes people for their religious beliefs. 
 
 "At this time, we do not know exactly how we will use the funds that have been donated to us because: 1) Since our business was shut down two years ago, we are continuing to face financial hardship 2) We are unsure at this time what other costs may be associated with our case in the future as we continue to stand strong for our freedom 3) We are seeking advice regarding how the government will tax the money we've been given and 4) We are waiting to see whether BOLI will stay the collection of the $135,000 (at an interest rate of 9%) during the appeal." 
 
 -- George Rede 
 
 grede@oregonian.com 
 
 503-294-4004 
 
 @georgerede
– An Oregon bakery that refused to make a cake for a lesbian couple and then refused to pay the $135,000 damages award that ensued has decided to finally pay up. A spokesman for the state Bureau of Labor and Industries tells KOIN that Aaron Klein, co-owner of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, paid $136,927.07 on Monday to settle the damages and interest. The spokesman says that with the help of a private collections agency, the bureau had already recovered around $7,000 from a garnished bank account belonging to Aaron and Melissa Klein, who closed their bakery in 2013 and now run the business from home. The couple was ordered to pay damages after authorities decided they had violated the civil rights of the two women who ordered a wedding cake. The Kleins' lawyer tells the Oregonian that they still plan to appeal the ruling, but they decided it didn't make sense to rack up interest charges while the case was pending. "The prudent thing to do, given the generosity of people who have contributed funds, was to take care of it and continue the fight," he says. And supporters have definitely been generous: The Kleins have received more than $515,000 from supporters since their case became national news, including at least $400,000 from a Continue to Give campaign that's still receiving a steady stream of donations. (This baker in Denver refused to make a "God hates gays" cake.)