I’ve changed my md on the gay ke row. Here’s why | Peter Tatchell | The Guardian

Contents:

• ‘GAY KE’ ROW: MAN LOS SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE AGAST BELFAST BAKERY
• ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI
• 'GAY KE' ROW: WHAT IS THE DISPUTE ABOUT?
• GAY KE ROW: DISCRIMATN SE ADMISSIBLE, SAYS EUROPEAN URT
• THIS BIZARRE ANIMATN PERFECTLY SUMS UP THE ‘GAY KE’ ROW
• THE “GAY-CAKE ROW” ANALYSIS
• GAY WEDDG KE LG REAFFIRMS THAT BS N’T DISCRIMATE
• ‘GAY KE’ ROW: EQUALY LAW NNOT HAVE ANY EXCEPTNS, URT TOLD
• HOW DID THE BERT AND ERNIE ‘GAY CAKE’ ROW END UP AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COURT?
• I’VE CHANGED MY MD ON THE GAY KE ROW. HERE’S WHY
• WHAT IS THE GAY CAKE ROW?: THE LEE VS. ASHERS BAKG COMPANY CASE
• 'GAY KE' ROW: BORN-AGA CHRISTIAN BAKERS LOSE URT APPEAL

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

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’. ”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. Power and David Philpott had to make their own ke topper by glug groomsmen figur togetherFrom “partner” to “hband”: meet one of the first married gay upl N.

Philpott and Power may have been the first gay uple the provce to be legally married, but the trail they blazed was soon followed by many, wh the St. 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.

ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI

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. 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.

EXCLUSIVE - Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakhop Colorado, is hopg the Supreme Court's latt cisn alg wh private bs owners and their First Amendment eedoms fally releas him om more than a of legal 2012, Phillips was tapulted to the center of a natnal ntroversy when he was sued by the State of Colorado after he cled to create a ctom weddg ke for a gay uple. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has thrown out a se agast a Christian uple who refed to bake a ke wh a msage support of gay marriage what Sir Jefey Donaldson, the DUP lear, said was a "victory for eedom of exprsn and belief".

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

50 ke om Daniel and Amy McArthur, the Christian owners of Ashers bakery uple refed to fulfil the orr bee they disagreed wh s sign, which featured Same Street puppets Bert and Ernie and the slogan "Support Gay Marriage" refal sparked a seven-year se, stg the Equaly Commissn of Northern Ireland £251, 000 of public money.

"He said there were "ser qutns" for Northern Ireland's Equaly Commissn after had backed Mr Lee, while the Christian Instute said was "good news for ee speech, good news for Christians" Calvert, a Christian Instute spokman, said: "I'm 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.

GAY KE ROW: DISCRIMATN SE ADMISSIBLE, SAYS EUROPEAN URT

He said: "Everyone has eedom of exprsn, and mt equally apply to lbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.

Bakers 'gay ke' row to have appeal heard Supreme Court today. Supreme Court victory over his refal to make a weddg ke for a gay uple on Thursday lost his appeal of a lg a separate se that he vlated a state anti-discrimatn law by not makg a ke to celebrate a genr Colorado Court of Appeals agreed wh a trial judge that Masterpiece Cakhop and the bakery's owner, Jack Phillips, vlated Autumn Srda's rights by nyg her service bee of her inty as a transgenr woman. Supreme Court 2017 agreed to hear Phillips’ challenge to the Colorado Civil Rights Commissn's ncln he discrimated agast a gay uple for whom he had refed to make a weddg Supreme Court 2018 led Phillips' favor but on narrow grounds that stopped short of creatg a ee speech exemptn to anti-discrimatn laws, fdg the missn was hostile toward Phillips’ Christian 6-3 nservative majory urt December heard arguments a siar se volvg Alliance Defendg Freedom client Lorie Smh, a Christian web signer who argu she has a right to refe to provi servic for same-sex se is Srda v.

THIS BIZARRE ANIMATN PERFECTLY SUMS UP THE ‘GAY KE’ ROW

Supreme Court leans toward web signer wh anti-gay marriage stanceColorado baker se of Supreme Court su state over 'persecutn'U. Supreme Court backs Christian baker who rebuffed gay upleOur Standards: The Thomson Rters Tst Raymond reports on the feral judiciary and ligatn.

You’re probably already tired of stori about homophobic bakers refg to make gay weddg k – but this one has a twist. Earlier this week, Colorado bakery ‘Masterpiece Cakhop’ bee the latt to be told by a urt that is not allowed to refe to make k for gay weddgs. He is pictured a Christ-like nial – before cryg as the more succsful bakeri get all the bs om happy gay people.

THE “GAY-CAKE ROW” ANALYSIS

The animatn is plenty quirky, however – also featurg him bakg a same-sex uple to a ke and puttg up a ‘no homo’ sign. 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. “Plenty of gay men don’t want that, which is totally fair and wh their rights, but he was enthiastilly ‘y’ about , ” Mr.

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. 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.

GAY WEDDG KE LG REAFFIRMS THAT BS N’T DISCRIMATE

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. 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.

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

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. Some people might dismiss the prcipl at stake the Masterpiece Cakhop se by argug that a gay uple n simply purchase their ke elsewhere. If a pany n refe to sell weddg k to a gay uple on the basis of relig nvictns, n a rtrant also then refe to serve food to a divorcée or an unmarried uple wh a child?

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. ”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.

HOW DID THE BERT AND ERNIE ‘GAY CAKE’ ROW END UP AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COURT?

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.

So, what is the UK’s gay ke row? Back May 2014, Gareth Lee, an LGBT+ activist and gay man, asked Ashers Bakery Belfast to make a ke for him featurg the the slogan “support gay marriage” alongsi the characters Bert and Ernie om Same Street. The ‘Gay Cake’ Case In The Courts.

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

“As well as meang that Ashers nnot be legally forced to aid the promotn of same-sex marriage, also means that gay bakers nnot be pelled by law to rate k wh anti-gay marriage slogans. 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. 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.

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

This stck many of as anti-gay discrimatn based on relig-spired homophobic prejudice. 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. Surely this was an example of clear-cut anti-gay discrimatn?

They claim to be Christians, yet J never once nmned homosexualy, and discrimatn is not a Christian value. It sought to challenge homophobia. 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.

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

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.

Or gay bakers accept orrs for k wh homophobic slurs? 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. 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.