Bakery turns homophobic messages into delicious fundraiser for LGBTQ+ charities

A bakery has turned nasty anti-LGBTQ+ social media messages into delicious cookies that will benefit queer-allied charities.

The “Sick Freak Cookie Box” — sold by the Rock City Cake Company of Charleston, West Virginia — features real-life hate messages that the company received after sharing social media posts supporting the LGBTQ+ community. The bakery printed out the individual messages on edible paper and then placed them on top of cookies surrounded by pale orange and blue icing and a ring of multi-colored sprinkles.

Related: North Carolina baker claps back at Don’t Say Gay bill with sweet treat

“I’m really in disbelief and I really wanted to do something that spoke back to them.”

Some of the hateful messages include ones calling the bakers “sick freaks,” a “worthless bunch of clowns,” and another saying, ” How sad that you support such nasty wickedness. I won’t be financially supporting you anymore.” All of the printed messages include a slightly blurry image of the people who sent them (though their names have been graciously removed).

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“We as a company, along with many others have received hateful messages/comments, and well… in Rock City Fashion, we decided to showcase them on a cookie for a good cause,” the bakery wrote in a public Facebook post. “If nothing else, [the cookies] support our local nonprofits, and encourage young or closeted LGBTQ+ members that the hate they see spewed online is nothing more than a word on a cookie, and we as a community won’t stand for it here.”

Part of the profits from each $30 box of cookies sold will benefit local charities, though the bakery has kept their names a secret so that the charities “to avoid more hate spewed towards their mission.” The bakery’s website also features a $1 to $100 donation option that says, “I don’t live close, but I hate homophobic people and want to make a donation to a local nonprofit!”

The box contains a dozen cookies and can be picked up from the bakery this Friday.

The bakery’s Facebook post advertising the cookies had lots of supportive comments.

“I freaking love you! One of the best ideas ever,” one wrote. Another wrote, “Great way to deal with narrow-mindedness – and tasty too!”

“These cookies would have truly cured my depression if the names were left on, but let’s order some anyways,” another commenter wrote, adding a teary-eyed laughing emoji.

Another person commented, “I sincerely hope that at least one of the people who made the hateful comments gets a box of these…. just sayin’.”

Granted, this isn’t the first time that a bakery has helped turn bitterness into sweetness for the queer community.

In May, community members helped a Cranford, New Jersey bakery raise thousands for the Trevor Project after a “concerned citizen” complained about their rainbow Pride flag. In Bristol, Connecticut, a community rallied to save a bakery after it received backlash for its LGBTQ+ support. And in New York, a Syracuse bakery saved the day when another baker reneged at the last minute to make a vegan wedding cake for a lesbian couple.

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