A Texas bakery that said it lost business and Facebook followers after it posted a photo of rainbow-frosted, heart-shaped cookies in celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month has amassed many new fans from around the world.
Confections, a bakery in Lufkin, shared a photo of the cookies Wednesday on Facebook with a message: "More LOVE. Less hate. Happy Pride to all our LGBTQ friends! All lovers of cookies and happiness are welcome here."
The next day, the bakery shared a more somber post about the backlash it said it received because it posted support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.
"Today has been hard. Really hard. We lost a significant amount of followers because of a rainbow heart cookie we posted. We received a very hateful message on our business page canceling a large order (5dz) of summer themed cookies for tomorrow morning (that we just finished decorating) because of a rainbow heart cookie we posted. My heart is heavy," a post on the Confections Facebook page stated.
The message added that the small business was already "struggling to stay afloat" and that, as a result of the cancellation, would now have a surplus of cookies for sale.
"If you love our cookies we will have an over abundance of them tomorrow," the post continued. "Hopefully tomorrow will be better."
And it was. As word spread about the backlash, customers lined up around the block the next day to buy treats from Confections.
Co-owner Dawn Cooley shared a photo of the line on Facebook and said the bakery sold out because people came out to show their support.
"All this attention on our small business is very humbling. Makes me nervous! Those who know me (Dawn) know how shy I am. In the 11 years we’ve been open we’ve never seen anything quite like this," Cooley wrote.
She added that her sister and co-owner, Miranda Dolder, and their baker, Felicia, were incredibly "humbled and grateful and moved by this outpouring of love."
"The last several people in our shop put Money on their credit card for us to donate because there was nothing left to purchase," she said.
"Giving it all to local animal rescues," Dolder added as an edit to the post. "We told the customers they could donate to that cause. They chose to do so."
The bakery posted another update Sunday, writing that, after Father's Day, it plans to create a donation schedule to send cookies to local nursing homes and charities.
The attention has also won Confections new fans from across the country. Its Facebook page now has nearly 50,000 likes.
"I am so glad to see all the in town and out of town support you are receiving. Sorry that people can be so negative. Stand up for being kind!" one fan wrote.
"When things slow down a bit-let us know if shipping is possible. I’d like to support you," added another person. "If shipping isn’t possible, I’ll buy some by phone/email and you can donate my cookies to a local LGBTQ org or children’s charity."
This story was originally published on TODAY.com.
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cpt_caveman on June 8th, 2021 at 04:03 UTC »
If you are concerned with what your neighbors get up to sexually, maybe perhaps, its YOU that is the freak?
ukcats12 on June 8th, 2021 at 02:00 UTC »
How fucking awful of a person do you have to be to have an issue with that statement, let alone to lash out at the business that posted it. Glad to see people from around the country rally around this business. Supporting small businesses and promoting an environment where everyone is loved and welcome is exactly what we need right now. Kudos to the bakery.
The2500 on June 8th, 2021 at 01:15 UTC »
Wasn't there a story about how the people that refused to make a cake for a gay wedding got some absurd amount of money from supporters?