‘Gay ke’ row: man los seven-year battle agast Belfast bakery | European urt of human rights | The Guardian

Contents:

• ASHERS 'GAY KE' SE: EUROPEAN URT L SE ADMISSIBLE
• ‘GAY KE’ ROW: MAN LOS SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE AGAST BELFAST BAKERY
• 'GAY KE' ROW: WHAT IS THE DISPUTE ABOUT?
• EUROPEAN URT L FAVOR OF CHRISTIAN BAKERY THAT REFED TO MAKE KE SUPPORTG GAY MARRIAGE
• EUROPEAN COURT L NORTHERN IRELAND GAY KE SE ADMISSIBLE
• GAY MARRIAGE CAKE: UK SUPREME COURT RUL FAVOUR OF CHRISTIAN BAKERS
• 'GAY KE' SE AND A SHETLAND PONY
• ASHERS 'GAY KE' ROW REFERRED TO EUROPEAN COURT

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

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. "Everyone has eedom of exprsn and mt equally apply to lbian, gay, bisexual and trans people, " he add.

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. 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.

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

“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. 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: WHAT IS THE DISPUTE ABOUT?

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.

EUROPEAN URT L FAVOR OF CHRISTIAN BAKERY THAT REFED TO MAKE KE SUPPORTG GAY MARRIAGE

| Rters/Vcent KslerThe European Court of Human Rights has rejected a plat agast a Christian bakery Northern Ireland that refed to make a ke supportg gay marriage on relig Strasbourg-based urt charged wh terpretg the European Conventn on Human Rights rejected the plat of Gareth Lee. “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. ”Bert and Ernie “support gay marriage” ke turned down by U.

“Everyone has eedom of exprsn and mt equally apply to lbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. ”Lee sued the McArthur fay 2014 after they refed to make a ke that would feature “Same Street” characters Bert and Ernie wh the slogan “Support Gay Marriage” at the Belfast County Court led agast the bakery and fed the uple the equivalent of $600. ”“The msage was not dissociable om the sexual orientatn of the ctomer, as support for gay marriage was not a proxy for any particular sexual orientatn, ” the high urt nclud.

EUROPEAN COURT L NORTHERN IRELAND GAY KE SE ADMISSIBLE

“The benef of the msage acc not only to gay or bisexual people, but to their fai and iends and to the wir muny who regnize the social benefs which such mment n brg.

Daniel McArthur general manager of Ashers bakery volved a "gay ke" legal dispute arriv at a Supreme Court hearg Lagansi urts Belfast, Northern Ireland, May 2, 2018. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilyne/File PhotoBELFAST, Jan 6 (Rters) - A plat of discrimatn prevly dismissed by Bra's hight urt agast a bakery that refed to make a ke wh a pro-gay msage was admissible, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) led on Bakg Belfast was found guilty of discrimatn 2015 for refg to make a ke for a ctomer iced wh the words "Support Gay Marriage" bee of the owners' Christian bakery failed an appeal to the lol urts 2016 but the Supreme Court, the UK's hight judicial body, overturned that cisn two years later, sayg the bakers' objectn was to the msage on the ke, not to any personal characteristics of the msenger, or anyone wh whom he was Lee, a gay rights activist who had orred the ke, argued that the Supreme Court failed to give appropriate weight to him unr the European Conventn of Human Rights.

GAY MARRIAGE CAKE: UK SUPREME COURT RUL FAVOUR OF CHRISTIAN BAKERS

But the ECHR said uld not urp the role of the lol urts after Lee failed to exhst all domtic said this was particularly so Brish-n Northern Ireland, "where there is a large and strong fah muny and where the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTIQ) muny has endured a history of nsirable discrimatn and timidatn.

Why has the UK Supreme Court led that the 'gay ke' se wasn't discrimatn?

Image source, Tham Valley PoliceImage ptn, Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Mart were both sgle and vulnerableBoth Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Mart were relig, sgle and whout Farquhar retired as Stowe School's head of English 2004 and was ved to be a gut lecturer at the Universy of Buckgham, where he met stunt the urt se, the jury heard how Mr Farquhar had a wi circle of iends but he was lonely and, as a gay man, he stggled wh his sexualy, regardg as patible wh his Anglin fah. The UK’s Supreme Court led favour of Northern Irish Christian bakers who cled to bake and rate a ke wh a pro-gay marriage msage, wh owners heraldg the cisn as a victory for ee speech.

'GAY KE' SE AND A SHETLAND PONY

Bra’s hight urt led Wednday morng that was not discrimatory for Ashers Bakery, n by Daniel and Amy McArthur, to refe to produce the ke wh the slogan “Support Gay Marriage” bee was the msage of the se that they objected to, not the sexual orientatn of the ctomer, the BBC reports. The seri of legal s through the Northern Irish and Brish urt systems began 2014 when the County Antrim bakers cled to make a ke for gay rights activist Gareth Lee which would have featured a picture of the Same Street characters Bert and Ernie wh the msage, “Support Gay Marriage”, sayg the msage nflicted wh their relig beliefs. BREAKING: Victory for Ashers Bakery ‘gay ke’ se.

The se reflects that of a siar lg the Uned Stat June where the untry’s Supreme Court led favour of a Colorado baker who cled to bake a weddg ke for a gay uple based on his Christian beliefs on tradnal marriage, wh the jtic lg that to force or punish Jack Phillips for refg to bake the ke ntravened the first amendment which protects eedom of exprsn. Image source, Belfast TelegraphAs the 'Gay Cake' se ntu, a hunter who mistook a Shetland pony for a fox and the legacy of the Troubl are all across Wednday's ont Newsletter headl on four former Secretari of State for Northern Ireland who have spoken out agast the Stormont Hoe legacy Ha, Lord Eam, Lord Pattern and Lord Kg along wh four other peers have wrten to the current Secretary of State Karen say they are rpondg to to the vatn to ment on the nsultatn on legacy bodi. In the letter, the members of the Hoe of Lords say they "unrstand why many victims and others attach great importance to the prosecutn, nvictn and sentencg of those rponsible for the appallg loss they have suffered" add: " But experience suggts that would be a mistake to expect that judicial oute any but a ty percentage of the crim that have not already been alt wh" ptn, The ke was orred a Belfast bakery four years ago by gay rights activist Gareth LeeThe Newsletter clus velopment about the fal lg of the 'Gay Cake' se.

ASHERS 'GAY KE' ROW REFERRED TO EUROPEAN COURT

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".