Lee v McArthur: the Gay Weddg Cake revised | Law & Relign UK

Contents:

• ASHERS 'GAY KE' SE: EUROPEAN URT L SE ADMISSIBLE
• UK SUPREME URT BACKS BAKERY THAT REFED TO MAKE GAY MARRIAGE KE
• ‘GAY KE’ ROW: MAN LOS SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE AGAST BELFAST BAKERY
• US SUPREME COURT BACKS COLORADO BAKER'S GAY WEDDG KE SNUB
• GAY WEDDG KE LG REAFFIRMS THAT BS N’T DISCRIMATE
• EUROPEAN URT WON'T LE ON 'GAY KE' SE VOLVG NORTHERN IRELAND BAKERY
• ASHERS 'GAY KE' ROW REFERRED TO EUROPEAN COURT
• RIGHTS COURT THROWS OUT UK GAY WEDDG CAKE CASE
• EUROPEAN COURT REJECTS ‘GAY CAKE’ CASE AS INADMISSIBLE; RULG FAVOR OF CHRISTIAN BAKERY STANDS
• RIGHTS URT THROWS OUT UK GAY WEDDG KE SE
• GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• LEE V MCARTHUR: THE GAY WEDDG CAKE REVISED
• 40 AWOME GAY WEDDG CAKE TOPPERS THAT WILL MAKE YOUR WEDDG CAKE STAND OUT
• CAMPAIGNER LOS BATTLE OVER ‘GAY MARRIAGE KE’ AT EUROPEAN URT
• BAKER WHO REFED TO MAKE KE FOR GAY WEDDG: 'I DON'T DISCRIMATE'
• HERE’S WHAT THE SUPREME COURT’S “GAY WEDDG KE” SE IS ACTUALLY A FIGHT ABOUT

ASHERS 'GAY KE' SE: EUROPEAN URT L SE ADMISSIBLE

The European Court of Human Rights has dismissed a legal challenge a long-nng dispute known as the "gay ke" se, lg the actn admissible.The ECHR is the latt urt to have s say the long-nng ntroversy.It all started 2014, when a bakery Northern Ireland refed to make a ke wh a slogan supportg same-sex marriage.Here's a look at how the se reached Strasbourg:What about the bakery? 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 anisatn.At 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 2020.The ke was beg missned for a civic event Bangor, County Down, to mark Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia and Transphobia.Staff 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".One 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.However, Mr Lee said he felt he was discrimated agast.

UK SUPREME URT BACKS BAKERY THAT REFED TO MAKE GAY MARRIAGE KE

Media ptn, Daniel McArthur, manager of Ashers Bakery, said they were "extremely disappoted wh the judgment"The judge found favour of Mr Lee, sayg that as a bs, Ashers was not exempt om discrimatn law.District Judge Isobel Brownlie said Ashers was "nductg a bs for prof" and was not a relig group.The firm was found to have discrimated agast Mr Lee on the grounds of sexual orientatn as well as his polil beliefs.The judge said she accepted Ashers had "genue and eply held" relig views, but said the bs was not above the law.Damag of £500 were agreed advance by legal teams on both sis of the dispute.Media ptn, Rob Allen QC said his client Gareth Lee was "very glad" the se was fishedDid the owners appeal?In October 2016, the owners of the bakery lost their appeal agast the lg that their refal to make a "gay ke" was discrimatory.Reactg to the lg, Daniel McArthur om Ashers said he was "extremely disappoted" addg that unrmed "mocratic eedom, relig eedom and ee speech".The firm then took the se to the Supreme Court and they won.The UK's hight urt led the bakery's refal to make a ke wh a slogan supportg same-sex marriage was not discrimatory.Then print of the Supreme Court, Lady Hale, led the bakers did not refe to fulfil the orr bee of the ctomer's sexual orientatn."They would have refed to make such a ke for any ctomer, irrpective of their sexual orientatn," she said."Their objectn was to the msage on the ke, not to the personal characteristics of Mr Lee."And om there, Mr Lee took his se to Europe, argug the UK Supreme Court "failed to give appropriate weight" to his se unr the European Conventn of Human Rights.More on this storyAround the BBC. Image ptn, Gareth Lee sued Christian-n Ashers bakery for refg to make a ke rated wh the slogan "Support Gay Marriage"A gay rights activist has lost a seven-year discrimatn dispute over a ke orr as the European Court of Human Rights led his se Lee started legal actn back 2014 after a Christian-n Belfast bakery refed to make him a ke wh the slogan "Support Gay Marriage" fay firm Ashers said the slogan ntravened their Christian European urt led Mr Lee's se admissible, sayg he had failed to exhst all optns the UK Belfast man has long argued that by refg to fulfil his orr, the bakery had discrimated agast him on grounds of his sexual orientatn and polil Lee then took his se to the European Court of Human Rights, where was examed by seven judg who cid, by majory, that should be long-nng dispute has raised qutns about relig eedom and discrimatn their lg on Thursday, the judg said the se was admissible bee Mr Lee had not voked his rights unr the European Conventn of Human Rights "at any pot the domtic proceedgs" the UK judg cid that orr for a plat to be admissible, "the Conventn arguments mt be raised explicly or substance before the domtic thori" ptn, BBC News NI looks at the key dat the "gay ke" se"By relyg solely on domtic law, the applint had prived the domtic urts of the opportuny to addrs any Conventn issu raised, stead askg the urt to urp the role of the domtic urts.

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

The se began 2014, when Mr Lee vised a Belfast branch of Ashers Bakery, and asked them to bake a ke rated wh the gay marriage source, Getty Image/Charl McQuillanImage ptn, Gareth Lee said he was trated that the se had been dismissed on a "technily"At 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 Mr Lee requted was to feature an image of Bert and Ernie, two characters om the children's TV programme Same Street, and the logo of the mpaign group, Lee paid £36. 50 for a ke and left the shop, but a few days later, bakery staff lled him to say they uld not plete the orr bee of the slogan and would refund his Bakg Company is n by the McArthurs, a Christian fay om County Lee said the cisn to refe his orr had ma him feel "unworthy" and a "lser person" plaed to the Equaly Commissn for Northern Ireland, who supported him takg a discrimatn se agast the fought the se, argug they had not turned Mr Lee's ctom away bee he was gay, but bee he had asked them to produce somethg that was ntrary to their relig is the European Court of Human Rights? It was disappotg to see another attempt to unrme those rights, so is a relief that the attempt has failed, " Mr Calvert source, Getty Imag/Leon NealImage ptn, Amy and Daniel McArthur photographed after their UK Supreme Court victory 2018However, the Rabow Project, a Belfast-based gay rights mpaign group, said the UK Supreme urt cisn had created legal uncertaty for LGBT people when accsg goods and servic and Thursday's ECHR lg had not rolved that uncertaty.

"If the judgement had gone the other way, a gay baker uld have been forced by law to acce to requts to rate k wh msag opposg LGBT+ equaly, " he ptn, Gay rights mpaigner Peter Tatchell said he had great sympathy for Gareth Lee but that he did not believe Ashers had discrimated agast him"I support protts agast Ashers over their hostily to LGBT+ equaly but I nnot endorse legal pulsn to require them to promote a msage wh which they profoundly disagree.

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

A Belfast bakery n by evangelil Christians was not obliged to make a ke emblazoned wh the msage “support gay marriage”, the supreme urt has led, overturng a £500 damag award imposed on unanimo cisn by the UK’s hight urt was greeted as a victory for ee speech but nmned by gay rights groups and the Equaly Commissn of Northern Ireland as a backward step batg had refed to produce the ke, featurg the Same Street puppets Bert and Ernie, 2014 for Gareth Lee, who supports the mpaign to legalise same-sex marriage Northern Ireland. He wanted to take to a private functn markg Internatnal Day Agast judgment, livered after the supreme urt’s first hearg Northern Ireland May, revers earlier cisns Belfast unty urt and a urt of appeal lg that the pany discrimated agast Lee, who is gay, on the grounds of sexual five jtic on the supreme urt – Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord Hodge and Lady Black – found the bakery did not refe to fulfil Lee’s orr bee of his sexual orientatn and therefore there was no discrimatn on those grounds.

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. 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 WEDDG KE LG REAFFIRMS THAT BS N’T DISCRIMATE

”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. 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 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?

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". A top European urt has cled to le a high-profile discrimatn se centred on an activist's requt to have a ke rated wh the Same Street characters Bert and Ernie and the words "Support Gay Marriage" pots:The human rights urt said the se was admissible bee Gareth Lee had failed to "exhst domtic remedi"LGBTQ groups said the lg was disappotg and also took aim at the UK Supreme Court's 2018 cisnHowever, Christian groups said the cisn was "good news for Christians" The European Court of Human Rights said the se was admissible bee activist Gareth Lee had failed to "exhst domtic remedi" his se agast a Northern Ireland was the latt lg a long-nng legal battle that began 2014 when Ashers Bakg Co refed to make the ke Mr Lee owners argued they were happy to bake goods for anyone but would not put msag on their products at odds wh their Christian Lee said he was trated the se was thrown out on what he lled "a technily" and said eedom of exprsn "mt equally apply to lbian, gay, bisexual and trans people" origally orred the ke to support a mpaign to allow same-sex marriage Northern mpaign succeed when Bra's Parliament stepped to brg the regn to le wh the rt of the untry.

EUROPEAN URT WON'T LE ON 'GAY KE' SE VOLVG NORTHERN IRELAND BAKERY

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".

ImageLorie Smh said her Christian fah requir her to turn away ctomers seekg servic to celebrate same-sex Woolf for The New York TimThe Supreme Court sid on Friday wh a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refe to sign weddg webs for same-sex upl spe a state law that forbids discrimatn agast gay people. The liberal jtic viewed as somethg else entirely — a dispute that threatened societal protectns for gay rights and rolled back some recent an impassned dissent, Jtice Sonia Sotomayor warned that the oute signaled a return to a time when people of lor and other mory groups faced open discrimatn. Kavangh and Amy Coney Barrett, shifted the urt to the urts have generally sid wh gay and lbian upl who were refed service by bakeri, florists and others, lg that potential ctomers are entled to equal treatment, at least parts of the untry wh laws forbiddg discrimatn based on sexual owners of bs challengg those laws have argued that the ernment should not force them to choose between the requirements of their fahs and their livelihoods.

Addnally, several stat terpret existg laws agast sex discrimatn to apply to bias relatg to sexual orientatn and genr inty, even though they do not have laws explicly forbiddg such stat that do not offer protectns to gay and transgenr people on those grounds, municipal laws ver many Human Rights Campaign, an L.

ASHERS 'GAY KE' ROW REFERRED TO EUROPEAN COURT

ETFriday’s lg was another reassurg cisn for relig celebratory moment outsi the Supreme Court on Friday, after the urt livered the latt a strg of judgments favor of relig Zuhaib/Associated PrsConservativ who have moral and theologil objectns to gay marriage saw the Supreme Court’s cisn on Friday as reassurance that they would be able to assert their beliefs a public square that they see as creasgly hostile to a 6-to-3 vote, spl along iologil l, the jtic agreed wh a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refe to provi servic for same-sex marriag, spe a state law that forbids discrimatn agast gay people.

RIGHTS COURT THROWS OUT UK GAY WEDDG CAKE CASE

Several siar s have centered on nservative Christian small bs owners who object to workg on gay weddgs specifilly, cludg a baker Colorado, two vatn signers Arizona and a Kentucky-based a news nference shortly after the lg was issued, Krist Waggoner, general unsel for Alliance Defendg Freedom, which reprented Ms. ” She said her nsiratn acceptg work as a webse signer was the “msage” of the se, not the inty of the Smh’s portfol clus webs for church, real tate pani and polil many nservative Christians hailed the cisn on Friday, drew cricism om some progrsive Christians and terfah groups, cludg those that serve gay people of fah.

ETHere’s how urt battl over servg same-sex upl have played out the Cote for The New York TimIn the latt se volvg same-sex marriage rights, relig eedom and discrimatn, the Supreme Court on Friday led favor of a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right not to provi servic for same-sex marriag spe a state law that bans discrimatn agast gay ’s a brief look at some of the most proment s before Friday’s:A Colorado baker ws urtIn June 2018, the Supreme Court led favor of a Colorado baker who refed to bake a weddg ke for a gay uple. Kennedy wrote that the missn’s members had acted wh “clear and impermissible hostily” to people wh scerely held relig Bra, a kemaker prevailsBra’s Supreme Court led favor of a bakery October 2018 that had refed to make a ke bearg the slogan “Support Gay Marriage, ” sayg the refal was not discrimatory. The urt’s cisn mak easier for bs Bra to cle ctomer requts that are at odds wh their dispute began 2014, when Gareth Lee, a gay rights activist Northern Ireland, sought to buy a ke for a party om Ashers Bakg Company Belfast that showed two “Same Street” characters, Bert and Ernie; a logo for his group, QueerSpace; and the slogan supportg gay marriage.

EUROPEAN COURT REJECTS ‘GAY CAKE’ CASE AS INADMISSIBLE; RULG FAVOR OF CHRISTIAN BAKERY STANDS

A florist Washgton State says her rights were vlatedIn 2013, Barronelle Stutzman, the owner of a flower shop the small cy of Richland, southeastern Washgton, refed to create floral arrangements for a gay uple’s two grooms, Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed, had prevly bought flowers at her store, Arlene’s Flowers.

RIGHTS URT THROWS OUT UK GAY WEDDG KE SE

”Invatn signers sue the cy of PhoenixThe Arizona Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments January after two Christian vatn signers said they would refe to create weddg vatns for same-sex upl if Da and Breanna Koski, evangelil Christians and the owners of Bsh & Nib Stud, sued the cy of Phoenix 2016, sayg they feared legal retributn if they did not fulfill requts om gay or lbian upl. “The oute of s like this other circumstanc mt awa further elaboratn the urts, ” he wrote, “all the ntext of regnizg that the disput mt be rolved wh tolerance, whout undue disrpect to scere relig beliefs, and whout subjectg gay persons to digni when they seek goods and servic an open market.

After the 2020 electn, Colorado bee a center of electn nspiraci, a e embraced by some of s state is “a nice enpsulatn on what lims have been placed on the Christian right and what power and fluence they n still yield, ” William Schultz, a historian at the Universy of Chigo Divy School who is workg on a book about Christian culture Colorado Sprgs, said last 1992, voters the state passed what was nsired at the time to be an unual ballot iative prohibg Colorado om regnizg gay, lbian and bisexual people as a protected class.

GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

PetersCoverg the media's tersectn wh polics, culture and lawThree years ago, Jtice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote today's opn favor of the webse signer who oppos same-sex marriage, was the thor of a very different opn om the urt, lg that a landmark civil rights law protects gay and transgenr employe om workplace discrimatn.

LEE V MCARTHUR: THE GAY WEDDG CAKE REVISED

”The se, though amed as a clash between ee speech and gay rights, was the latt a seri of cisns favor of relig people and groups, notably nservative Christians, who celebrated the lg on Friday as a victory for relig dissent, Jtice Sonia Sotomayor lled the lg “profoundly wrong, ” argug that the Colorado anti-discrimatn law “targets nduct, not speech, for regulatn, and the act of discrimatn has never nstuted protected exprsn unr the First Amendment. At the same time, the lg limed the abily of the ernments to enforce anti-discrimatn urts have generally sid wh gay and lbian upl who were refed service by bakeri, florists and others, lg that potential ctomers are entled to equal treatment, at least parts of the untry wh laws forbiddg discrimatn based on sexual orientatn. Acrdg to the two urt cisns, the Christian bakers were obliged to make a ke proclaimg “Support Gay Marriage”, effectively enhancg the prospective ctomer’s right to eedom of speech while supprsg the bakers’ own right to eedom of speech together wh their right to eedom of relign as well as their right as a bs to accept or reject any orr.

40 AWOME GAY WEDDG CAKE TOPPERS THAT WILL MAKE YOUR WEDDG CAKE STAND OUT

"The narrow Supreme Court lg lg Phillips’ se applied to the specific facts of his se only and gave ltle ht as to how the urt might ci future s volvg florists, bakers, photographers and other bs owners who have ced relig and ee-speech objectns when refg to serve gay and lbian ctomers the wake of the Supreme Court's 2015 same-sex marriage cisn.

I uld not believe that a bs owner, someone who mak pastri, uld simply turn someone away bee of who they are, ” she ’s the uple wh Munn on US Supreme Court is to hear arguments on Tuday a se that has been scribed as the most signifint for gay rights sce approved same-sex marriage two years ago.

CAMPAIGNER LOS BATTLE OVER ‘GAY MARRIAGE KE’ AT EUROPEAN URT

BAKER WHO REFED TO MAKE KE FOR GAY WEDDG: 'I DON'T DISCRIMATE'

HERE’S WHAT THE SUPREME COURT’S “GAY WEDDG KE” SE IS ACTUALLY A FIGHT ABOUT