‘Gay ke’ row: equaly law nnot have any exceptns, urt told | Northern Ireland | The Guardian

Contents:

• ‘GAY KE’ ROW: MAN LOS SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE AGAST BELFAST BAKERY
• 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
• ASHERS BAKERY ‘GAY KE’ ROW – ECHR LG WAS RIGHT
• 'GAY KE' ROW: BORN-AGA CHRISTIAN BAKERS LOSE URT APPEAL
• ASHERS BAKERY IN COURT OVER 'GAY' CAKE ROW
• ‘GAY KE’ ROW: EQUALY LAW NNOT HAVE ANY EXCEPTNS, URT TOLD
• ASHERS BAKERY 'GAY KE' ROW BEG BROUGHT TO EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY CTOMERS
• ASHERS ‘GAY KE’ ROW: BAKERY WILL NOT SEEK LEGAL STS

‘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.

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. 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. 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?

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

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. 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.

ASHERS BAKERY ‘GAY KE’ ROW – ECHR LG WAS RIGHT

Dpe this, Judge Isobel Brownlie said that refg the pro-gay marriage slogan was unlawful direct sexual orientatn discrimatn.

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

” 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.

ASHERS BAKERY IN COURT OVER 'GAY' CAKE ROW

Ashers Bakery ‘gay ke’ row – ECHR lg was right. “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.

Instead of the legal se bought by Gareth Lee, Ashers should have been sued for breach of ntract after they refed to rate Gareth’s ke wh his requted msage supportg 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 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.

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

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. A Christian-owned bakery which refed to ice a ke wh the words "Support gay marriage" is preparg to fend s cisn a Belfast publicly-fund Equaly Commissn has brought a civil actn, the first of s kd Northern Ireland, agast Ashers Bakg Company om Newtownabbey, County Antrim. 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. 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. The cisn to take the so-lled "gay ke" se to the European Court of Human Rights has disappoted Christian mpaigners.

ASHERS BAKERY 'GAY KE' ROW BEG BROUGHT TO EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY CTOMERS

A bakery at the centre of the “gay ke” se will not seek sts om the Equaly Commissn for NI, which brought the se agast . The high-profile dispute began 2014 when the bakery refed to make a ke wh the slogan “Support Gay Marriage”.

The ctomer, gay rights activist Gareth Lee, sued the pany for discrimatn on the grounds of sexual orientatn and polil beliefs.

ASHERS ‘GAY KE’ ROW: BAKERY WILL NOT SEEK LEGAL STS