Gay rights activist's appeal long-nng ke dispute led 'admissible' by European Court of Human Rights | UK News | Sky News

Contents:

• IT’S BEEN 40 YEARS SCE NORTHERN IRELAND’S HUMANISG GAY SEX BAN WAS FALLY STCK DOWN
• NORTHERN IRELAND UNR PRSURE AFTER IRISH GAY MARRIAGE REFERENDUM W
• GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST'S APPEAL LONG-NNG KE DISPUTE LED 'ADMISSIBLE' BY EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
• ‘GAY KE’ ROW: MAN LOS SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE AGAST BELFAST BAKERY
• GAY NORTHERN IRELAND
• ANTI-GAY ATTUS NORTHERN IRELAND ARE CHANGG
• RELIGN AND ATTUS TOWARDS GAY RIGHTS NORTHERN IRELAND: THE GOD GAP REVISED
• NORTHERN IRELAND GAY RIGHTS ASSOCIATN
• EUROPEAN URT CL TO TAKE NORTHERN IRELAND ‘GAY KE’ DISCRIMATN SE
• GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND CHARY FOUNR RECEIVE MBES NEW YEAR HONOURS
• GAME OF THRON’ KRISTIAN NAIRN SLAMS NORTHERN IRELAND GAY RIGHTS RERD

IT’S BEEN 40 YEARS SCE NORTHERN IRELAND’S HUMANISG GAY SEX BAN WAS FALLY STCK DOWN

Potg to a rise ‘homonatnalism’, or the creasg number of ethnic mory groups that actively seek to -opt the language of LGBT rights as a means to distguish their own polil platform as more liberal pared to that of their rivals, such rearch utns agast seeg ethnonatnalism as evably homophobic. Irrpective of whether same-sex marriage or the teachg of gay and lbian rights schools are nsired, is those who are ngent their ethnonatnal inty – fe themselv as eher Brish-Unnist or Irish-Natnalist – who stand out as the most negative their views (see Table).

Irrpective of whether same-sex marriage or the teachg of gay and lbian rights schools, Prottants are around twice as likely to adopt a negative stance relatn to both the issu than Catholics, and this relatnship holds irrpective of inty preferenc.

NORTHERN IRELAND UNR PRSURE AFTER IRISH GAY MARRIAGE REFERENDUM W

Policians Northern Ireland will face tense prsure om LGBT rights mpaigners to “tch up” wh the rt of wtern Europe after the Irish Republic overwhelmgly backed same-sex marriage a Irish Congrs of Tra Unns will jo Amnty Internatnal and gay rights group the Rabow Project to hold a mass rally support of equal marriage rights on 13 June, while a legal tt se has also been lodged wh Belfast’s Friday’s historic referendum, which the Republic’s voters endorsed same-sex marriage by 2-1, Northern Ireland remas the last untry wtern Europe where LGBT upl are barred om gettg married [see footnote]. Attempts to legislate to allow gay marriage have been vetoed by the Democratic Unnist party and a majory of Ulster Unnists the volved Northern Ireland assembly at ICTU spokman said the regn need to tch up wh the rt of mocratic Europe – and particular every other part of the UK. Corrigan said people Northern Ireland should show they are “sick of livg a discrimatory backwater for gay people” month, a Sn Fé motn on marriage equaly fell after 47 Stormont assembly members voted support while 49 unnists voted agast.

A plat by Northern Ireland gay rights activist Gareth Lee that he was discrimated agast when the Christian owners of a Belfast bakery refed to make him a ke iced wh the slogan "Support Gay Marriage" has been led admissible by the European Courts of Human European Court of Human Rights said has, by a majory, clared the applitn "admissible" on a pot of law.

GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST'S APPEAL LONG-NNG KE DISPUTE LED 'ADMISSIBLE' BY EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

"He said he was "surprised" anyone would want to "overturn a lg that protects gay bs owners om beg forced to promote views they don't share jt as much as protects Christian bs owners" Calvert ntued: "The lg October 2018 by five of the untry's most distguished and experienced judg was weled by lawyers, mentators and ee speech experts om across the spectm. "He add: "We believe this leav an ambiguy whereby dividuals and anisatns across Europe actively mpaigng on gay rights would be particularly vulnerable to a mercial bs refg to provi servic like prtg posters, leaflets, settg up webs, etc, through claimg an exemptn to non-discrimatn laws on the basis of ''s not you, 's your msage'. A man has lost a seven-year legal battle agast a Belfast bakery that refed to make him a ke emblazoned wh the msage “support gay marriage” as the European urt of human rights led that his claim was admissible, promptg disappotment om gay rights Thursday the ECHR, by a majory cisn, said would not rensir the cisn of the UK supreme urt, which had overturned a £500 damag award imposed on Ashers bakery, which is n by evangelil refed to produce the ke, featurg the Same Street puppets Bert and Ernie, 2014 for Gareth Lee, who was a supporter of the mpaign to legalise same-sex marriage Northern Ireland.

Same-sex marriage was legalised Northern Ireland last the supreme urt judgment 2018, after s first hearg Northern Ireland, a Belfast unty urt and a urt of appeal had led that the pany discrimated agast Lee, who is gay, on the grounds of sexual ECHR said the claim was admissible bee the applint had not exprsly voked his rights unr the European nventn on human rights at any pot the domtic proceedgs and had relied solely on domtic said: “The supreme urt found on the facts of the se that the applint was not treated differently on acunt of his real or perceived sexual orientatn, but rather that the refal to supply the ke was bee of the fendants’ relig objectn to gay marriage. “What was prcipally at issue, therefore, was not the effect on the applint’s private life or his eedom to hold or exprs his opns or beliefs, but rather whether Ashers bakery was required to produce a ke exprsg the applint’s polil support for gay marriage. Its puty director, Daniel Holr, said the ECHR’S lg on admissibily left dividuals and anisatns mpaigng on gay rights “vulnerable to a mercial bs refg to provi servic like prtg posters, leaflets, settg up webs etc, through claimg an exemptn to non-discrimatn laws on the basis of ‘’s not you ’s your msage’.

‘GAY KE’ ROW: MAN LOS SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE AGAST BELFAST BAKERY

”The ECHR said balancg the rights of Lee and those of the bakery owners, Daniel and Amy McArthur, was “a matter of great import and sensivy to both LGBTIQ muni and to fah muni”, particularly Northern Calvert, a spokperson for the Christian Instute, which backed the McArthurs, lled the cisn good news for ee speech, addg: “It protects gay bs owners om beg forced to promote views they don’t share, jt as much as protects Christian bs owners.

Harold McKee, a standard-bearer of unnism the Mourne Mountas, qu on October 30th, lamentg that gay marriage was unter to the “fallible word of God” Beattie says his live-and-let-live nvictns are born of three s of ary service Ai, the Balkans and Iraq, om which he learned that “people of all kds have a need to be rpected”. Found by Ian Paisley, a preacher who vowed to “Save Ulster om Sodomy”, opposed same-sex marriage until the change was, effect, imposed by London January June Pla Bradley, the DUP’s puty lear, formally apologised for s “atroc” rerd on gay rights.

GAY NORTHERN IRELAND

One pot of ictn, he says, was his belief that the party should move a progrsive directn, for example by supportg Gay Pri Thompson-McCormick, a gay wrer who liv England but had an Ulster Prottant upbrgg, spi a streak of pragmatism the DUP’s natural voters that he thks will eventually brg them around. In fact, some mentators go so far as to suggt that public disput and related urt battl over homosexual rights have now replaced abortn as the most signifint and divisive moral issue wh many ntemporary wtern dtrialized societi (see Wilx 2007; Raysi 2007; Badgett 2009). Recent legislative activy suggts that not only will the issue of gay rights rema on the public agenda for some time to e, as pro- and anti-gay lobbyists seek to advance their var posns, but this appears to be particularly the se when the qutn of gay marriage is nsired.

While the issue of gay rights has not generated as much legislative activy across Europe, few would dispute that important legal chang have occurred this area recent years, particularly relatn to gay marriage and civil partnerships (see Takacs and Szalma 2011). For example, currently, six European natns – the Netherlands (2001), Belgium (2003), Spa (2005), Norway (2008), Swen (2009), Portugal (2010) and Iceland (2010) – legally regnize same-sex marriag, and seventeen untri, now allow registered partnerships as a legal optn for same-sex upl, one of the most recent beg Ireland which legalized civil unns among gay upl 2011. Footnote 2 Moreover, among those untri that have legalized same-sex marriag or civil partnerships, ten also perm same-sex adoptns, albe wh varyg many other European natns, same-sex sexual relatns for mal and femal aged 16 years or over is legal both Great Bra and Northern Ireland and, sce the 2004 Civil Partnership Act, gay upl have been legally entled to engage civil partnerships the UK.

For example, not only have both Anglin and Catholic relig thori spoken out strongly agast the adoptn rights of gay and lbian upl but they also sought exemptns to the 2009 Equaly Bill, which beme law April 2010, such as the prohibn of gay or lbian dividuals workg relig schools. Footnote 5 This is not to disunt, however, some ongog and notable divisns wh the Anglin Church relatn to this issue, particularly when the qutn of gay bishops civil partnerships are nsired, Footnote 6 as well as the creasgly vol opposn, particularly by the Catholic Church, relatn to the proposed bill to allow both civil and relig same-sex marriage ceremoni Stland. (2006) note, while a good al of rearch has been nducted about the relatnship between relign and public opn about attus towards homosexualy, much of the analysis is based on small surveys and has been rtricted eher by geography or by the typ of people clud (often llege stunts).

ANTI-GAY ATTUS NORTHERN IRELAND ARE CHANGG

Furthermore, even when attus toward marriage and adoptn rights are nsired, to date, not only have the vast majory of studi been rtricted to the Uned Stat but they have tend to vtigate the rights terms of a bary posn, parg those who hold a negative opn relatn to the issu vers those who do is wh the omissns md that this chapter foc on the impact of relign on attus towards same-sex sexual relatns and the adoptn and marriage rights of gay upl. By cludg such a diversy of measur, this vtigatn not only marks the first systematic analysis of relign and public opn towards gay rights this society but also allows to vtigate the fluence of each of the var relign measur on public opn about gay marriag and adoptn rights – two issu that are central to current bat about gay rights wh ntemporary dtrialized societi.

Fally, ntrary to prev rearch, attus towards same-sex sexual relatns and gay rights are pared terms of three tegori of opn: those who hold a negative view of this issue; those who don’t know or hold a ntral posn; and those who adopt a posive or supportive stance terms of their e of Northern Ireland as a se study to vtigate this issue may be nsired appropriate for the followg three reasons.

RELIGN AND ATTUS TOWARDS GAY RIGHTS NORTHERN IRELAND: THE GOD GAP REVISED

In fact, as recently as 2008, Iris Robison, who was then a member of both the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Hoe of Commons and who scrib herself as a “born aga” Christian, ed much ntroversy when she said that homosexualy was an “abomatn” that ma her feel “sick” (see Duggan 2012). For example, a recent survey nducted by the Equaly Commissn for Northern Ireland – the 2011 Equaly Awarens Survey – found that jt over a quarter of rponnts would object to havg a gay or bisexual neighbor and four ten would object to a close relative formg a relatnship wh a gay or bisexual person. For example, the three time perds which the survey was nducted, the proportn of rponnts who objected to a close relative formg a relatnship wh a gay or bisexual person rose om 29% 2005 to 35% 2008, and further creased to 42% 2011 (see Equaly Commissn for Northern Ireland 2011: 21).

Fally, unlike many other European societi where the troductn of legislatn support of gay rights has been the rult of wispread ternal public prsure om s cizens wh their natnal borrs, much of the impet for the troductn of legalisatn ncerng same-sex issu has e om outsi Northern Ireland society.

NORTHERN IRELAND GAY RIGHTS ASSOCIATN

Footnote 10 Even the Methodist Church, which advot unrstandg and tolerance towards gay people, ed wispread outrage and disquiet September 2011, when rejected a male volunteer and long-standg member of the church to work on a youth project light of his sexual preferenc. Although the relatnship between relign and attus towards homosexualy is plex, one of the most nsistent fdgs to emerge om this rearch is that relign, as measured by dividuals’ relig affiliatns, behavurs, and beliefs has an important fluence on attus towards homosexualy, although the fluence of each of the var measur on attus towards gay rights has yet to be asssed empirilly.

Drawg on the theoretil sights of Durkheim ([1912] 1995), particularly relatn to the suggted over-ridg importance of ruals, this rearch has vtigated the gree to which relig practic, such as church membership or belongg to a relig stutn and attendg relig servic, has an important effect on moral beliefs, cludg attus towards homosexualy. For example, there is now a substantial body of work to suggt that church membership or relig affiliatn has an pecially strong and negative fluence on opns about homosexualy, cludg the rights of lbians and gay men, and this is also the se when other relig practic, such as prayer but particularly church attendance, are nsired (see Fisher et al. Furthermore, for all relig nomatns, but particularly among those wh the evangelil Prottant tradn, there is some evince to suggt that their high rat of church attendance and s rivative ngregatnal activi and social and iendship works are an important ntributg factor explag their anti-gay views (Olson et al.

EUROPEAN URT CL TO TAKE NORTHERN IRELAND ‘GAY KE’ DISCRIMATN SE

By ntrast, evangelil Prottants, or members of Conservative Prottant nomatns, have the most homophobic views, although, at least as far as the Uned Stat is ncerned, there is some evince to suggt that they have bee more tolerant of lbians and gay men over the last two s and this seems to be particularly the se among the young (Greeley and Hout 2006).

In fact, there is now a growg body of evince to suggt that is one’s beliefs about God, and not relig acts, such as church attendance or even Biblil leralism, which are the cisive factors termg a range of moral outlooks, cludg attus towards gay rights. For example, Froe and Bar (2008), a study of eight natns, cludg the Uned Stat, Atralia, New Zealand and five European untri, found that variatn imag of God had a signifint effect on sexual moraly attus, cludg attus towards homosexualy, and that this relatnship remaed even when a range of variabl, cludg relig affiliatn and church attendance, were clud the analysis. Furthermore, all but one natn – Atralia – belief a personally engaged God was a much stronger predictor of absolutist sexual moraly attus than church attendance, wh dividuals holdg such views beg signifintly more likely to nmn certa sexual acts, cludg homosexualy, than those who did not.

For example, Adamczyk and Pt (2009) a study of 33 wtern and non-wtern natns, found that not only were subjective views ncerng the importance of relign a key predictor of attus towards homosexualy, but also had greater effect untri wh a strong self-exprsive cultural orientatn, such as the Uned Stat. While a number of studi pot to the importance of relig practic, such as church membership and attendance rat, termg attus towards same-sex sexual relatns and gay rights, others strs the over-ridg fluence of one’s belief and perceptns of God, while still others strs the importance of relig salience or subjective relig views.

GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND CHARY FOUNR RECEIVE MBES NEW YEAR HONOURS

It is wh the three petg terpretatns md – relig practic, beliefs and about God, and subjective relig views – that this study provis the first prehensive and systematic tt of the role of relign predictg public attus towards same-sex sexual relatns as well as the marriage and adoptn rights of lbians and gay men wh Northern Ireland society. Prev studi the Uned Stat, Bra and elsewhere Europe document the fact that women, the more soc-enomilly privileged, the young, the unmarried and those wh a left-wg polil orientatn are notably more tolerant their views towards gay rights than men, the lser-privileged, olr, married and right leang dividuals (see Hay 1997; Wilx et al.

For example, whereas a notable mory of rponnts – jt over two-fifths this stance – thought that same-sex sexual relatns was “always wrong, ” ls than a fifth and exactly a quarter of dividuals adopted an intil posn – “strongly disapproved” – when the marriage and adoptn rights of gay upl were nsired. For example, whereas jt unr a fifth of rponnts exprsed a ntral opn – “n’t choose/don’t know” – relatn to same-sex sexual relatns, the equivalent proportn who adopted an intil stance – “neher/don’t know” – relatn to gay marriage was nearly double this amount at 38%. While the vast majory of adults are divid terms of their acceptance, or lack thereof, of same-sex sexual relatns, eher disapproval or cisn characterize their views about gay marriage and, albe to a somewhat lser extent, their attus towards the adoptn rights of gay upl.

GAME OF THRON’ KRISTIAN NAIRN SLAMS NORTHERN IRELAND GAY RIGHTS RERD

Turng now to the ma foc of our vtigatn, or the impact of relign on attus towards gay rights, the followg three tabl report the rults of three logistic regrsn analys focg on attus towards same-sex sexual relatns as well as the marriage and adoptn rights of gay upl. By ntrast, subjective relig views failed to emerge as a signifint predictor of attus toward same-sex issu and, wh one notable exceptn, this lack of relatnship remaed regardls of whether attus towards same-sex sexual relatns or the marriage and adoptn rights of gay upl were nsired.

Furthermore, there is some evince to suggt that at least as far as the effect of relig practic on attus towards same-sex sexual relatns and the adoptn rights of gay upl are ncerned, is relig affiliatn, and not church attendance, which is the key predictor of attus this stance. Still other rearch, however, emphasize the fluence of subjective relig views, namely the importance of relign one’s daily life, as the primary factor termg attus towards gay rights and this is particularly the se when the Uned Stat is rults of this analysis lend only partial support to the petg explanatns.