The Supreme Court In Northern Ireland Rule In Favor Of Christian Bakers Who Refused To Make Gay Themed Cake For Religious Reasons

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The Supreme Court In Northern Ireland Rule In Favor Of Christian Bakers Who Refused To Make Gay Themed Cake For Religious Reasons

October 10. 2018

Daniel McArthur and Amy McArthur of Ashers Bakery

The Supreme Court in Northern Ireland has ruled that Christian bakers who refuse to make gay cakes are “not discriminatory.” Gareth Lee, who is a gay rights activist, filed a lawsuit against Daniel McArthur and Amy McArthur, the owners of Ashers Bakery in Belfast. They declined to make a gay themed cake for religious reasons and were take to court for it. The bakery was willing to sell the cake to a customer, but for religious reasons objected to customizing it with a gay message. The case initially prevailed in London and then in the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal. However, Lee lost the case at the Supreme Court, who sided with the McArthur family.

Lady Hale wrote in her legal ruling on behalf of the Court, "This conclusion is not in any way to diminish the need to protect gay people and people who support gay marriage from discrimination. It is deeply humiliating, and an affront to human dignity, to deny someone a service because of that person's race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief. But that is not what happened in this case."

She also stated, "As to Mr Lee's claim based on sexual discrimination, the bakers did not refuse to fulfill his order because of his sexual orientation. They would have refused to make such a cake for any customer, irrespective of their sexual orientation. The bakers could not refuse to supply their goods to Mr Lee because he was a gay man or supported gay marriage, but that is quite different from obliging them to supply a cake iced with a message with which they profoundly disagreed."

STORY SOURCE

Christian bakers who refused to make gay marriage cake 'not discriminatory', Supreme Court rules

2 hours ago - The Christian owners of a bakery who refused to make a cake supporting gay marriage were not discriminatory, the Supreme Court has ruled. The McArthur family, who run Ashers bakery in Belfast, won their appeal in a unanimous ruling in London in what has become widely known as the "gay cake case". The legal action was originally brought against the family-run bakery by gay rights activist Gareth Lee, who won his case initially in the county court and then at the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal…

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