The “Gay-Cake Row”: Equaly vs Freedom of Conscience?

Contents:

• 'GAY KE' ROW: WHAT IS THE DISPUTE ABOUT?
• ‘GAY KE’ ROW: MAN LOS SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE AGAST BELFAST BAKERY
• I’VE CHANGED MY MD ON THE GAY KE ROW. HERE’S WHY
• CALIFORNIA JUDGE SIS WH BAKER 'GAY KE' ROW
• ASHERS 'GAY KE' ROW REFERRED TO EUROPEAN COURT
• US SUPREME COURT BACKS COLORADO BAKER'S GAY WEDDG KE SNUB
• WHAT IS THE GAY CAKE ROW?: THE LEE VS. ASHERS BAKG COMPANY CASE
• 'GAY KE' ROW: BORN-AGA CHRISTIAN BAKERS LOSE URT APPEAL
• THE 'GAY CAKE' AFFAIR
• 'GAY KE' ROW: JUDGE L AGAST ASHERS BAKERY
• GAY WEDDG KE ROW REACH US SUPREME COURT
• THE “GAY-CAKE ROW” ANALYSIS
• ‘GAY KE’ ROW: EQUALY LAW NNOT HAVE ANY EXCEPTNS, URT TOLD
• NORTHERN IRELAND ‘GAY KE’ ROW: EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SE
• ‘GAY KE’ ROW SE LED ADMISSIBLE BY EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER YEARS-LONG BATTLE
• PATRICK STEWART BACKS CHRISTIAN BAKERS IN 'GAY CAKE ROW' ON NEWSNIGHT
• GAY KE ROW: UPLE'S APPEAL ADJOURNED
• GARETH LEE V ASHERS BAKG COMPANY – WHAT IS THE GAY KE ROW SE?

'GAY KE' ROW: WHAT IS THE DISPUTE ABOUT?

The European Court of Human Rights has dismissed a legal challenge a long-nng dispute known as the "gay ke" se, lg the actn ECHR is the latt urt to have s say the long-nng all started 2014, when a bakery Northern Ireland refed to make a ke wh a slogan supportg same-sex 's a look at how the se reached Strasbourg:What about the bakery? The bakery me to wir promence July 2014 when emerged that had cled an orr s Belfast branch om gay rights activist Gareth Lee. He had wanted them to make a ke that clud a slogan that said "support gay marriage" along wh a picture of Bert and Ernie om Same Street, and the logo of the Queerspace the time, same-sex marriage was still illegal Northern Ireland, but the law has sce changed and same-sex weddgs have been takg place sce Febary ke was beg missned for a civic event Bangor, County Down, to mark Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia and at the bakery passed the orr to s head office, which nsired to be "at odds" wh their beliefs.

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

Durg the heargs, a lawyer for the bakery argued the issue was "the ke, not the ctomer" of the bakers, Karen McArthur, said she did not know Mr Lee was gay and would not have mattered as they would not have been prepared to make a ke wh a pro-same-sex marriage slogan for anyone. In October 2016, the owners of the bakery lost their appeal agast the lg that their refal to make a "gay ke" was discrimatory. 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.

I’VE CHANGED MY MD ON THE GAY KE ROW. HERE’S WHY

“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’.

”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. Like most gay and equaly mpaigners, I ially nmned the Christian-n Ashers Bakery Belfast over s refal to produce a ke wh a pro-gay marriage slogan for a gay ctomer, Gareth Lee.

CALIFORNIA JUDGE SIS WH BAKER 'GAY KE' ROW

Much as I wish to fend the gay muny, I also want to fend eedom of nscience, exprsn and saga began 2014 when the bakery said was not willg to ice a ke wh the words “support gay marriage” and the logo of the equaly group Queer Space, claimg the msage was ntrary to s Christian beliefs. Ashers believ that the relatnships of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) people are wrong and should not be eligible for the stat of marriage. They claim to be Christians, yet J never once nmned homosexualy, and discrimatn is not a Christian value.

ASHERS 'GAY KE' ROW REFERRED TO EUROPEAN COURT

It pas me to say this, as a long-time supporter of the stggle for LGBT equaly Northern Ireland, where same-sex marriage and gay blood donors rema banned. However, the urt erred by lg that Lee was discrimated agast bee of his sexual orientatn and polil ke requt was refed not bee he was gay, but bee of the msage he asked for. Dpe this, Judge Isobel Brownlie said that refg the pro-gay marriage slogan was unlawful direct sexual orientatn discrimatn.

” Brownlie th nclud that by refg to provi a ke wh a pro-gay marriage wordg Ashers had treated him ls favourably, ntrary to the fdg of polil discrimatn agast Lee sets a worryg precent.

US SUPREME COURT BACKS COLORADO BAKER'S GAY WEDDG KE SNUB

The high-profile dispute began 2014 when the bakery refed to make a ke wh the slogan Support Gay source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Gareth Lee tried but failed to orr the ke om Ashers bakery 2014Mr Lee, a gay rights activist, sued the pany for discrimatn on the grounds of sexual orientatn and polil the bakery has always sisted s objectn was to the msage on the ke, not the source, RtersImage ptn, Daniel and Amy McArthur, who own Ashers Bakery, weled the Supreme Court's judgement last October'Supreme Court blurred l'In a statement, Mr Lee's solicor said the latt legal bid "do not directly implite the owners of Ashers bakery or challenge their right to privately hold relig/polil views". Image source, RtersImage ptn, Jack Phillips has temporarily stopped makg weddg kThe US Supreme Court has led favour of a baker Colorado who refed to make a weddg ke for a gay Colorado state urt had found that baker Jack Phillips' cisn to turn away David Mulls and Charlie Craig 2012 was unlawful the Supreme Court led on Monday a 7-2 vote that that cisn had vlated Mr Phillips' rights.

The nservative Christian ced his relig beliefs refg rights groups feared a lg agast the uple uld set a precent for treatg gay marriag differently om heterosexual the Supreme Court's verdict stead foc specifilly on Mr Phillips' se. The cisn do not state that florists, photographers, or other servic n now refe to work wh gay lg three years after the Supreme Court ma same-sex marriage the law of the land s landmark Obergefell v Hodg source, Getty ImagImage ptn, David Mulls (left) and Charlie Craig wanted a weddg ke to celebrate their planned marriageWhat did Monday's lg say?

WHAT IS THE GAY CAKE ROW?: THE LEE VS. ASHERS BAKG COMPANY CASE

Jtice Anthony Kennedy wrote that while Colorado law "n protect gay persons acquirg products and servic...

The Supreme Court Belfast has yet to release an opn on a lower urt lg that found the owners of a bakery discrimated agast a gay activist for refg to bake a ke wh the slogan "Support Gay Marriage" row began May 2014, when gay activist Gareth Lee placed an orr for a ke wh the gay marriage days later, the Christian-owned Ashers bakery ncelled the orr sayg "would ntradict their relig beliefs".

The Gay Cake row, also known as the Lee v Ashers Bakg Company se, is a Supreme Court se volvg LGBTQ+ rights activist Gareth Lee and a bakery, Ashers Bakg Company, based Belfast, Northern se has been ongog sce 2014 and has recently seen some velopments. The Gay Cake row began 2014, when Gareth Lee, an LGBTQ+ rights activist, orred a ke om the Ashers Bakg Company Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mr Lee was lookg to have a ke ma to celebrate Natnal Day Agast Homophobia and had requted that the ke have a picture of Bert and Ernie, om Same Street, wh the slogan, "Support Gay Marriage", imprted across the top.

'GAY KE' ROW: BORN-AGA CHRISTIAN BAKERS LOSE URT APPEAL

A few days later, Mr Lee received a phone ll ditg that the bakery would not plete his orr due to their relig stance on gay marriage. A bakery Northern Ireland owned by evangelil Christians has lost an appeal to overturn a nvictn that found guilty of discrimatn for refg to bake a pro-gay-marriage themed urt of appeal Belfast on Monday upheld a prev judgment last year that Ashers Bakery had discrimated agast a ctomer on the grounds of sexual fay-owned firm the origal se was also orred to pay £500 pensatn to the lol gay rights activist Gareth Lee, whose legal actn was backed by the Equaly Commissn for Northern had tried to buy a ke pictg the Same Street characters Bert and Ernie below the motto ‘Support gay marriage’ for an event to mark Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia Ashers se has received ternatnal attentn, and highlighted the tensns between gay rights reformers and the polilly fluential and socially nservative born-aga Christian lobby wh Northern three appeal judg on Monday were Northern Ireland’s lord chief jtice, Sir Declan Man, and Lord Jtic Weathep and liverg their judgment, Man rejected the argument of lawyers for Daniel McArthur and his fay that the bakery would have been endorsg gay marriage equaly by bakg the ke. ”Lee placed his orr at the bakery shortly after the Democratic Unnist party ed s power of veto the Northern Ireland assembly to block mov to make gay marriage legal the provce.

THE 'GAY CAKE' AFFAIR

The party has nsistently blocked proposals the assembly om other parti cludg their ma partners ernment, Sn Fé, to legalise gay a four-day hearg at the urt of appeal Belfast earlier this year, lawyers for the McArthur fay said they challenged the fdg bee their ey would have been sful for them to plete the their legal battle to overturn the lg, the McArthur fay won the support of Northern Ireland’s attorney general, John Lark the hearg May, the attorney general argued urt that the McArthur fay was entled to nstutnal protectn for turng down a ctomer’s orr based on their personal relig beliefs. Followg Monday’s lg one of the ma gay rights anisatns Northern Ireland weled the judg’ O’Doherty, the director of the Rabow Project, said: “Ashers Bakg Company entered to a ntractual agreement to make this ke and then changed their md.

'GAY KE' ROW: JUDGE L AGAST ASHERS BAKERY

William Crawley tells the story of the so-lled 'Gay Cake' row and the rultg 'Conscience Clse' proposal to amend Northern Ireland's equaly legislatn. It began last year when Ashers Bakg Company Belfast refed to make a ke bearg the legend 'Support Gay Marriage. Media ptn, Rob Allen QC said his client Gareth Lee was "very glad" the se was fished A judge has led that a Christian-n bakery discrimated agast a gay ctomer by refg to make a ke wh a pro-gay marriage Bakg Company, based County Antrim, was taken to urt by gay rights activist Gareth Lee.

Reactg to the cisn, Northern Ireland Deputy First Mister Mart McGuns tweeted: "Ashers bakery judgement a good rult for equaly, gay people have for far too long been discrimated agast. "John O'Doherty, of gay rights group the Rabow Project, said: "While sympathetic as some may be to the posn which the pany fds self, this do not change the facts of the se.

"What we nnot have is a hierarchy of rights, and today there's a clear hierarchy beg tablished that gay rights are more important than the rights of people to hold relig beliefs, " Mr Givan ptn, DUP MLA Pl Givan lled on the Equaly Commissn to apologiseMore on this storyRelated Inter LksThe BBC is not rponsible for the ntent of external s. When be the centre of a grippg Supreme Court drama about the right of a baker to refe to make one for a gay uple's weddg. Recently, the Christian owners of Ashers Bakery County Antrim, Northern Ireland achieved a unanimo victory the fal Supreme Court appeal cisn the so-lled “gay-ke” discrimatn se.

GAY WEDDG KE ROW REACH US SUPREME COURT

The claim was brought by ctomer, Gareth Lee who sued the pany for discrimatn on grounds of sexual orientatn and polil beliefs 2014 after the bakery refed to make a ke which had the slogan “support gay marriage.

Moreover, the se has been argued as a nsequence of the suggted homophobic culture of some groups felt Northern Ireland due to the fact that is the only part of the UK that has not yet legalized gay marriage. She said, to refe someone service bee they are gay is, “eply huiatg, and an afont to human digny. One of the ma qutns the cisn was whether Lee’s inty as a gay man was, therefore, “dissociable” om the msage wrten on the ke.

The urt argued that many people support gay marriage so a msage favour of was not proxy to the requter of the ke beg gay argug that, “they would have refed to make such a ke for any ctomer, irrpective of their sexual orientatn. Lee bee he was a gay man or supported gay marriage, but that is que different om obligg them to supply a ke iced wh a msage wh which they profoundly disagreed wh. Masterpiece Cakhop, a bakery Lakewood, Colorado, refed to provi a weddg ke to a gay uple based on the owner’s relig beliefs.

THE “GAY-CAKE ROW” ANALYSIS

Our cisn seemed to argue that there was no discrimatn where the parti were jt exercisg their eedom of belief not to exprs the pro-gay slogan. Dpe, the Supreme Court g to an apparently logil ncln surroundg the specifici of what means to discrimate based on sexual orientatn, the se has reerated some problems wh Northern Ireland’s attu towards equaly – particularly that surroundg gay marriage. A bakery ctomer has told Belfast high urt that he was left feelg like a “lser person” after the bs refed to make him a gay-themed ke featurg the Same Street characters Bert and Christian-owned Ashers bakery ncelled the requt for the ke om Gareth Lee 48 hours after his origal orr.

The sign for the ke also clud a support-gay-marriage msage icg and a QueerSpace, a gay rights activist, told the urt he had been shocked by the refal.

‘GAY KE’ ROW: EQUALY LAW NNOT HAVE ANY EXCEPTNS, URT TOLD

”Earlier, Allen poted out that equaly legislatn aimed at preventg discrimatn on grounds of sexualy, relign, race, age or genr Northern Ireland nnot have any told the urt the le of law said there should “be no discrimatn the mercial sphere” said would not bake the ke on relig grounds, specifilly bee of an objectn to gay Allen told the urt that large bs such as Ashers uld not be allowed to break ntracts wh dividuals. Speakg outsi urt on Thursday, before the hearg, Daniel McArthur, of Ashers, said his pany was “jt tryg to be fahful to the Bible” by refg to bake the gay-themed ke. In May 2014, gay rights activist Gareth Lee, a member of the LGBT advocy group Queer Space, placed an orr at Ashers Bakg Company for the ke and a payment of £36.

The ke was missned for an event Bangor, County Down, to mark the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia and Transphobia. A plat by a gay rights activist that he had been discrimated agast when the Christian owners of a bakery Northern Ireland refed to make him a pro-gay marriage ke has been led admissible by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) story first h the headl July 2014, when Gareth Lee said he had requted a ke om Ashers Bakg Company which said “support gay marriage” along wh a picture of Same Street characters Bert and Ernie, and the logo of Queerspace.

NORTHERN IRELAND ‘GAY KE’ ROW: EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SE

The ke was beg missned for an event hosted by Northern Ireland’s first openly gay mayor Bangor, County Down, to mark the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia and the time, same-sex marriage was still illegal Northern the bakery, which is Christian-owned, said that the makg the ke was “at odds wh our beliefs”.

Judg at the ECHR today led that Mr Lee had failed to “exhst domtic remedi” the se, which has been ed ‘the gay ke’ se had reached the ECHR when the UK’s Supreme Court overled prev judgements 2018 to ci that Mr Lee was not discrimated agast by beg nied the a wrten lg today, the ECHR said: “Conventn arguments mt be raised explicly or substance before the domtic thori.

‘GAY KE’ ROW SE LED ADMISSIBLE BY EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER YEARS-LONG BATTLE

The cisn was seen by some as a victory for eedom of speech but was wily nmned by gay rights groups and the Equaly Commissn. Famed Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart has joed the “gay ke” row by revealg he supports the Christian bakers who refed to ice a msage promotg same sex marriage.

The firm said would not make the Same Street ke which celebrated gay marriage bee nflicted wh the owner’s relig beliefs.

PATRICK STEWART BACKS CHRISTIAN BAKERS IN 'GAY CAKE ROW' ON NEWSNIGHT

“It was not bee was a gay uple that they objected, was not bee they were celebratg some sort of marriage or an agreement between them. Gareth Lee, a gay rights activist, did manage to get a ke ma as requted“It was the actual words on the ke they objected to.

” Profsor Graham Walker, a polics amic at Queen's Universy Belfast, said the se had proven a "phyrric victory" for the gay rights movement Northern told HuffPost UK: "The verdict has created a difficult ntext for movement on this issue. "Ireland vot y to gay marriageRelatk newspatrick stewartgay ke lgbtGay MarriageBefore You GoYou May Like. An appeal by a born-aga Christian uple who were found guilty of discrimatn for refg to bake a pro-gay marriage ke has been unexpectedly adjourned for three se was dramatilly put back at the appeal urt Belfast after a late terventn by Northern Ireland’s attorney general, John Lark regn’s chief law officer has raised legal issu wh the urt regardg discrimatn and equaly tervened on the qutn of any potential nflict between Northern Ireland’s strict equaly legislatn and European human rights provce’s lord chief jtice, Sir Declan Man, agreed to adjourn the appeal until 9 May where will s for four told the urt was “most unfortunate this issue has only arisen two days before hearg.

Michael Wardlow, the Equaly Commissn’s chief missner, said they would be urt to support Gareth Lee, who alleged that Ashers Bakery discrimated agast him for refg to bake a ke wh a pro-gay marriage msage on . “We’re here to support Gareth, ” Wardlow said outsi the appeal urt near Belfast cy centre on, a member of the LGBT advocy group Northern Ireland Queer Space, wanted a ke featurg Same Street puppets Bert and Ernie wh the slogan: support gay and Amy McArthur who own Ashers are takg a se to the urt an attempt to overturn last year’s unty urt lg which found them guilty of discrimatn.

GAY KE ROW: UPLE'S APPEAL ADJOURNED

Htg back, even wh a leak to the BBC, turned a molehill to a mounta and will now no doubt lead to a natnal bate, the like of which we haven’t seen sce the Belfast bakery lost a discrimatn se for refg to bake a pro-gay marriage ke, or the recrimatns after BA asked a staff member to stop wearg her cross. The "gay ke row" started 2014 between Gareth Lee and Ashers Backg Company directors Daniel and Amy McArthur and went all the way to the UK's hight urt. Bert and Ernie are at the centre of the row bee Gareth Lee asked Ashers Bakg Company to make a Same Street ke honour of Andrew Muir - North Ireland's first openly gay mayor.

GARETH LEE V ASHERS BAKG COMPANY – WHAT IS THE GAY KE ROW SE?

General manager Daniel McArthur said wh the slogan Mr Lee wanted the sired ke's "Support Gay Marriage" msage icg was"at odds wh what the Bible teach". At the time Ashers Bakg Company vs the Equaly Commissn had far-reachg implitns for the petg rights of fah-based muni and homosexuals. 5 Gareth Lee acced a bakery of discrimatn bee they wouldn't make him a Same Street-themed ke wh "Support Gay Marriage" on Cred: PA:Prs Associatn.