Representation matters and I am so thankful to KAF for their commitment to diversifying the voices and experiences of contributing writers. As a straight, able-bodied, cis-gendered woman, it has helped open my eyes to new perspectives.

As a baker, reading the negative and hateful replies is really disappointing as I have come to expect more from my fellow bakers.

I have found baking for others to be a great way to open up a conversation or just to connect and show that even when I may not see things the same way, I still care about you as a person.

Baking can express care and compassion through language barriers, political barriers, religious barriers, and more. While I can't break bread with fellow commenters who don't yet recognize the value of the story above, I can use it as a reminder that we have a lot of work to do to make this world a more inclusive place and think about who I will share my next bake with.

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