Northern Ireland bakers guilty of discrimatn over gay marriage ke | Equal marriage | 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?
• NORTHERN IRELAND BAKERS GUILTY OF DISCRIMATN OVER GAY MARRIAGE KE
• ‘GAY KE’ PLAT LED ADMISSIBLE BY EUROPEAN URT
• US SUPREME COURT BACKS COLORADO BAKER'S GAY WEDDG KE SNUB
• NORTHERN IRELAND "GAY MARRIAGE KE" URT SE THROWN OUT BY EU AFTER 7 YEARS
• ‘GAY KE' PLAT LED ADMISSIBLE BY EUROPEAN URT
• ECHR L BELFAST BAKERY 'GAY KE' SE APPLITN ADMISSIBLE
• 'GAY KE': ASHERS BAKERY SE HEARD AT SUPREME COURT
• JUDGMENT RERVED ASHERS BAKERY GAY KE URT SE
• EUROPEAN COURT L NORTHERN IRELAND GAY KE SE ADMISSIBLE
• CHRISTIAN BAKERS WHO REFED TO MAKE ‘GAY KE’ LOSE DISCRIMATN APPEAL
• EUROPEAN URT CL TO TAKE NORTHERN IRELAND ‘GAY KE’ DISCRIMATN SE
• GAY MARRIAGE KE: CTOMER TAK SE TO EUROPEAN URT
• 'GAY KE' SE: SUPREME COURT L ASHERS DID NOT DISCRIMATE AGAST CTOMER

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.

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.

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

"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.

“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’.

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

”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.

NORTHERN IRELAND BAKERS GUILTY OF DISCRIMATN OVER GAY MARRIAGE KE

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? 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. A Northern Ireland bakery has been found guilty a landmark lg of discrimatn for refg to bake a ke wh a pro-gay marriage Bakg Company received worldwi support om evangelil and born-aga Christians over s refal to make the ke for a lol gay rights activist the a judge Belfast high urt on Tuday led that the fay-owned firm was guilty of discrimatg agast Gareth Lee on the grounds of sexual orientatn.

However, she poted out that ernment regulatns were there “to protect people om havg their sexual orientatn ed for havg their bs turned down” judge add: “I believe the fendants did have the knowledge that the platiff was gay.

‘GAY KE’ PLAT LED ADMISSIBLE BY EUROPEAN URT

”Ashers was orred to pay agreed damag of £500 pl urt firm was acced of discrimatg on the grounds of sexual orientatn agast Lee, a volunteer wh gay rights mpaign group asked Ashers Belfast’s Royal Avenue to bake the ke last year to mark the electn of the first openly gay mayor Northern Ireland, Andrew reported the bakery to the Equaly Commissn for Northern Ireland after reversed an earlier agreement to bake the ke wh the pro-gay marriage the three-day urt hearg March, Lee said the cisn by Ashers cisn to hand back the £36. However, Lee, through the Belfast-based gay rights lobby group, the Rabow Project, said he would not be makg any statement relatn to the ’ general manager, Daniel McArthur, said the fay were extremely disappoted wh the judgment. ”Rpondg to the guilty verdict, Northern Ireland’s puty first mister, Mart McGuns, tweeted: “Asher’s bakery judgment a good rult for equaly, Gay people have for far too long been discrimated agast.

A legal challenge by a Northern Ireland gay rights activist who claimed he was discrimated agast when a bakery refed to make a ke wh a slogan supportg same-sex marriage has been dismissed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) urt clared the actn admissible and said the applint, Gareth Lee, had "failed to exhst domtic remedi" available through the UK the lg, published yterday, a majory of seven judg said Mr Lee had not voked his rights unr the ECHR “exprsly at any pot the domtic proceedgs” relyg solely on domtic law, they said, “the applint had prived the domtic urts of the opportuny to addrs any Conventn issu raised, stead askg the Court to urp the role of the domtic urts” 2014, Mr Lee, a member of the LGBT group QueerSpace, orred a ke om Belfast-based bakery Ashers – a Christian-n firm.

It was to feature the Same Street puppets Bert and Ernie and the slogan "Support Gay Marriage" took legal actn – which beme known as the ‘gay ke’ se – allegg discrimatn on the grounds of his sexualy after Ashers ncelled the orr due to the msage on the ke, which nflicted wh their Christian Lee, who was supported by the Northern Ireland Equaly Commissn, won his se and a subsequent appeal the Northern Ireland urts, but the bakery owners, the McArthurs – who were backed by the Christian Instute – took the se to the Supreme Court, which found favour of the bakery 2018.

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

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.

NORTHERN IRELAND "GAY MARRIAGE KE" URT SE THROWN OUT BY EU AFTER 7 YEARS

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".

‘GAY KE' PLAT LED ADMISSIBLE BY EUROPEAN URT

A Northern Irish gay activist who attempted to orr a ke wh a pro-gay marriage slogan has lost a seven-year legal battle after the European Court of Human Rights led his se as "admissible". Lee is a member of the LGBT advocy group QueerSpace and attempted to orr a ke wh Same Street characters Bert and Ernie along wh the slogan "Support Gay Marriage" for a private functn celebratg Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia May 2014. A plat by a Northern Ireland gay rights activist that he had been discrimated agast when the Christian owners of a bakery refed to make him a ke iced wh the slogan “Support Gay Marriage” has been led admissible by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

“We believe this leav an ambiguy whereby dividuals and anisatns across Europe actively mpaigng on gay rights would be particularly 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’. Image ptn, The ke was orred four years ago by gay rights activist Gareth LeeThe owners of a Northern Ireland bakery found to have discrimated for refg to make a "gay ke" were forced to act agast their relig beliefs, the Supreme Court has Bakery is challengg the lg over s cisn not to make a ke iced wh the slogan "Support Gay Marriage" for activist Gareth Lee. "Mr and Mrs McArthur have been penalised by the state, the form of the judgment at the unty urt, for failg through their fay pany to create and provi a product bearg an explic slogan 'Support Gay Marriage' to which they have a genue objectn source, AFPImage ptn, Ashers owner Daniel McArthur has argued that the ke's msage was agast their relig views"They would equally have refed to provi that ke wh the slogan to a heterosexual ctomer.

ECHR L BELFAST BAKERY 'GAY KE' SE APPLITN ADMISSIBLE

Tuday marks the latt legal chapter the long-nng se that began May 2014 when the orr was placed at an Ashers shop Belfast by Gareth Lee, a gay rights refed to bake the ke but was later found to have discrimated agast Mr barrister, Rob Allen QC, said he "knew nothg at all" about Mr and Mrs McArthur's relig beliefs when he placed the Allen listed a range of imag which Ashers had advertised on a flier that would ice on k, cludg a wch for Halloween, a photograph of a person or "a picture of Larne Ladi Football Club". A COMPLAINT BY Northern Ireland gay rights activist Gareth Lee that he was discrimated agast when the Christian owners of a Belfast bakery refed to make him a ke iced wh the slogan “Support Gay Marriage” has been led admissible by the European Court of Human Rights. Contract law is "at the heart" of the so-lled gay ke se, a lawyer actg for the Equaly Commissn and Gareth Lee the civil actn agast Ashers Bakg Company has Allen QC argued that Ashers, which is n by the McArthur fay, rejected the orr for the ke for "subjective" reasons that unrmed "the whole of ntract law" Allen is reprentg the missn and gay rights advote Mr Lee who are takg a se agast Ashers bakery for refg to bake a ke featurg an image of Bert and Ernie and bearg the msage “Support Gay Marriage” Sffield, QC for the McArthurs, earlier on Monday argued that puttg the msage on the ke was an act of promotn.

He said the law required certaty and was not about people holdg “subjective” a ntract uld be broken for a subjective reason, such as a person holdg a view on gay marriage, then the “law be entirely agile”, he said. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilyne/File Photo Acquire Licensg RightsBELFAST, 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.

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. Europe’s top human rights urt on Thursday led admissible a man’s discrimatn claim agast a Belfast bakery for clg his pro-same-sex marriage ke orr bee of s owners’ relig lg end a years-long legal battle that had raised qutns about civil rights, relig eedoms and sexual orientatn Northern Ireland, a regn of saga also mirrored siar, high-profile s the Uned Stat, where bakeri and other bs recent years have refed to ter same-sex European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, said Thursday that the claim was admissible bee the plaant, gay rights activist Gareth Lee, had failed to voke his rights unr Europe’s human rights nventn as the se ma s way through the Brish urt system. ”The plat was first ma 2014 after Lee notified Northern Ireland’s Equaly Commissn that the Christian-n bakery, Ashers Bakg Co., had nceled his orr for a ke featurg Same Street characters Bert and Ernie and bearg the slogan “Support Gay Marriage.

'GAY KE': ASHERS BAKERY SE HEARD AT SUPREME COURT

Lawyers reprentg a man om Northern Ireland who sued a bakery for refg to make a ke wh pro-gay marriage msage are gog to Europe to challenge a supreme urt lg that s evangelil Christian owners had a right to refe to bake .

JUDGMENT RERVED ASHERS BAKERY GAY KE URT SE

Belfast human rights law firm Phoenix Law nfirmed on Thursday had been stcted by Gareth Lee to take his se to the European urt of human rights (ECHR) was told by Ashers bakery 2014 that would not make a ke wh the msage “Support Gay Marriage” on bee was ntrary to the owners’ relig years later the supreme urt reversed earlier cisns at Belfast unty urt and urt of appeal that Ashers had discrimated agast Lee on the grounds of him beg judg on the supreme urt, which 2018 sat for the first time Northern Ireland, found that the bakery did not refe Lee’s orr bee of his sexual orientatn.

EUROPEAN COURT L NORTHERN IRELAND GAY KE SE ADMISSIBLE

They led therefore that there was no discrimatn on those Lee’s legal team are now argug the ECHR that the supreme urt lg should be overturned bee bakg the ke did not imply “the bakery supportg (exprsly or implicly) the msage of the ke” lawyers ntend that no reasonable person would equate producg the ke for an dividual private ctomer wh the bakery supportg the pro-gay marriage msage on . ”Belfast bakery ws gay ke discrimatn lg – vioLee’s lawyer Ciaran Moynagh add: “We’re ncerned the lg this se allows any pany, s shareholrs or owners to hold relig or polil views and those views tmp the rights of s ctomers. “The bakers uld not refe to supply their goods to Mr 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, ” the five judg the ntroversy first flared up, Northern Ireland was still the only part of the UK where same-sex marriage was not regnised law.

The pertent facts were summarised by the District Judge the followg terms: "The urt heard that Gareth Lee is a gay man who is associated wh an anisatn which seeks to crease visibily of the lbian, gay and bisexual and transgenred muny a posive manner. "He was planng to attend a private event on Friday May 17 2014 to mark the end of the Northern Ireland anti-homophobia week and the fact that the NI assembly vote on the troductn of legislatn enablg same-sex marriage had been rejected by a narrower marg than on prev ocsns, markg polil momentum. Moreover, they suggted that such discrimatn as Mr Lee might have suffered bee of his polil opn (about gay marriage) was permissible given the rights of the appellant directors unr Articl 9(1) and 10(1) of the Conventn (paras 55-57).

The legal actn was origally brought agast fay-n Ashers bakery Belfast by gay rights activist Gareth Lee, who won his se ially the unty urt and then at the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal. Lady Hale add: "The bakers uld not refe to supply their goods to Mr 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.

CHRISTIAN BAKERS WHO REFED TO MAKE ‘GAY KE’ LOSE DISCRIMATN APPEAL

Controversy first flared when Mr Lee, a member of the LGBT advocy group QueerSpace, orred a ke 2014 featurg Same Street puppets Bert and Ernie for a private functn markg Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia.

EUROPEAN URT CL TO TAKE NORTHERN IRELAND ‘GAY KE’ DISCRIMATN SE

GAY MARRIAGE KE: CTOMER TAK SE TO EUROPEAN URT

'GAY KE' SE: SUPREME COURT L ASHERS DID NOT DISCRIMATE AGAST CTOMER