Legislator's bikini cake with "have your cake and eat it" note draws ire in state capitol

NEW ORLEANS, LA (KTRK) -- Louisiana legislators are not happy about a bikini cake with a lewd message that was brought into the state capitol.

WDSU-TV reports that Rep. Mark Abraham received a birthday cake from Rep. Jack McFarland that depicts a woman's torso in a bathing suit, accompanied by the note "He likes his cake and eats it too."

Abraham brought the cake to the state capitol on Friday, sparking a contentious debate with his colleagues.

"I used words that my mother will not be proud of," Rep. Karen Carter Peterson admitted of her interaction with Abraham.

"I apologized for using inflammatory language and swearing at my colleague. I was very upset and I shouldn't use that language, but that does not take away what he did and what others have done in the past, and I'm tired of it," Peterson added.

So is Rep. Helena Moreno.

"This is a capitol. This is not the locker room. This is not a birthday party and it's not a bachelor party," she told reporters.

Moreno said the cake is reminiscent of a proposed amendment by another male legislator to place weight limits on strippers.

"It does send such a terrible message," she said. "These are legislatures. We can't allow this type of rhetoric to become normalized within the legislature. These are elected leaders."

Abraham maintains he never meant to offend anyone, adding that he would have brought the cake to any workplace.

"I think we have better things to be concerned and put attention on than a birthday cake fiasco," he said.