Walmart Won’t Put The Word ‘Gay’ On Decorated Cakes, The Straighest Of All Foods
Last week a straight Las Vegas teen asked his gay best friend to go to prom with him and a photo of their sweet promposal went viral. Now the pair are making headlines yet again after employees at a Las Vegas Walmart bakery refused to make them a celebratory cake because it had the word ‘gay’ on it.
According to Raw Story, Jennifer Sandoval, the aunt of one of the teens involved in the viral promposal, went to her local Walmart to place an order for a cake to celebrate with her nephew before the dance. The sign used to ‘prompose’ to her nephew said, “You’re hella gay, I’m hella straight, but you’re like my brother so be my date.” Hoping to mirror the sign that created such a positive response online, she attempted to order a caked that read:
”You’re gay, he’s straight, you’re going to prom, you couldn’t have had a better date.”
Much to Sandoval’s surprise, the bakery employee she spoke to said they couldn’t make the cake because putting the word ‘gay’ on a cake is against store policy. Hoping for some clarification, Sandoval asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor agreed with the initial employee.
”Supervisor takes my phone, looks at it, and was like stuck for a minute, and she was like, ”˜OK, I’m sorry, we can’t use this’. And then I said, ”˜I’m going to ask you what I asked her because you’re the supervisor. Why can’t I use this? I don’t understand. It’s one word. It’s gay,’” Sandoval recalled.
In the end, Sandoval ended up with a cake that read, “You matter, Prom Kings,” which might be one of the lamest things ever written on a cake. Reporters reached out to a spokesperson for Walmart who said they’re currently investigating the situation, that the initial bakery employee didn’t contact ‘proper management,’ and clarified that no where in store policy does it say ‘gay’ can’t be written on a cake.
What’s interesting about this story is that rather than outright refuse to make the cake, they only refused to write the word ‘gay.’ You have to wonder what exactly they thought would happen from putting that word in icing. Would a lightning bolt descend from the sky and obliterate the Walmart? Would the lightning bolt bypass the Walmart and head directly for the bakery employees? Also, what is going on that not one, but two people — the employee and the supervisor — felt this strongly about not writing ‘gay’ on a cake?
Sandoval said the store manager offered her a new cake once the story went public, but the offer came too late since prom happened over the weekend. It’s unclear exactly why these employees refused to write the word ‘gay,’ but at least the issue is being resolved now. Still, it’s disappointing that it took ruining this woman’s kind gesture in support of her nephew in order for that to happen.
(Photo: Shutterstock)