The ‘gay ke’ fight: why the bakers had a right to refe this orr | Kenan Malik | The Guardian

Contents:

• ACTIVIST LOS 8-YEAR COURT BATTLE OVER BAKERY'S REFAL TO PROVI PRO-GAY MARRIAGE CAKE
• ‘GAY KE’ ROW: MAN LOS SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE AGAST BELFAST BAKERY
• 'GAY KE' LEGAL CHALLENGE THROWN OUT AFTER SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE
• 'GAY KE' ROW: WHAT IS THE DISPUTE ABOUT?
• US SUPREME COURT BACKS COLORADO BAKER'S GAY WEDDG KE SNUB
• PATRICK STEWART BACKS BAKERY AFTER 'GAY KE' URT BATTLE
• GAY COUPLE LOS SUPREME COURT BATTLE ON WEDDG CAKE
• IRELAND 'GAY KE' ROW TAK TOLL ON ACTIVIST, SAYS EQUALY MISSN
• 'GAY KE' LEGAL BATTLE TO GO TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
• THE ‘GAY KE’ FIGHT: WHY THE BAKERS HAD A RIGHT TO REFE THIS ORR
• ‘GAY KE’ ROW SE LED ADMISSIBLE BY EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER YEARS-LONG BATTLE
• GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• TEXAS JUDGE WHO DON’T WANT TO PERFORM GAY MARRIAGE CEREMONI HOP WEB SIGNER’S SUPREME COURT SE HELPS HER FIGHT

ACTIVIST LOS 8-YEAR COURT BATTLE OVER BAKERY'S REFAL TO PROVI PRO-GAY MARRIAGE CAKE

The European Court of Human Rights said on Thursday will not hear a high-profile discrimatn se volvg pro-gay-marriage k and rtoon urt led do not fd the se volvg activist Gareth Lee and the Ashers Bakg Co. "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, " the urt wrote s cisn. "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.

Supreme Court se June over his refal to make a weddg ke a gay uple based on his relig nvictns, he thought his legal battl wh the state of Colorado were over, acrdg to a now Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakhop Lakewood, Colorado, is facg a new urt fight, this one volvg a lawyer who asked him to bake a ke to celebrate the anniversary of her genr transn. 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: MAN LOS SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE AGAST BELFAST BAKERY

”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. A se seven years the makg, but after years of liberatns back and forth, Europe’s top human rights urt has tossed the so-lled "gay ke" se the a lg, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Strasbourg said the se which the Northern Irish gay-rights activist, Gareth Lee, brought agast the UK was "admissible" bee at no pot the domtic proceedgs had he voked his rights unr the European nventn on human rights.

"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. "Back 2014, when same-sex marriage was still illegal Northern Ireland, Lee went to Christian-n Ashers bakery Belfast to orr a ke wh the slogan "Support Gay Marriage", featurg Same Street characters Bert and Ernie.

'GAY KE' LEGAL CHALLENGE THROWN OUT AFTER SEVEN-YEAR BATTLE

The lg mak clear that “is unexceptnal that Colorado law n protect gay persons, jt as n protect other class of dividuals, acquirg whatever products and servic they choose on the same terms and ndns as are offered to other members of the public. “any cisn favor of the baker would have to be sufficiently nstraed, lt all purveyors of goods and servic who object to gay marriag for moral and relig reasons effect be allowed to put up signs sayg ‘no goods or servic will be sold if they will be ed for gay marriag, ’ somethg that would impose a ser stigma on gay persons. 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.

'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. 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.

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". For ee real time breakg news alerts sent straight to your box sign up to our breakg news emailsSign up to our ee breakg news emailsPatrick Stewart has weighed to the 'gay ke' bate, sayg that he supports the right of the Christian bakers to refe to ice msag they fd Bakery lost a urt se after refg to make a ke wh the words "support gay marriage" above a picture of Bert and Ernie om Same McArthur fay who own the bakery were found guilty of unlawful discrimatn and fed £ bakery's general manager Daniel McArthur said: "We don't want to be forced to promote a e which is agast our biblil beliefs.

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

"Coleen Nolan prevly exprsed a siar sentiment, although was perhaps not as refully Loose Women panelist played vil's advote for the bakery, parg their reactn to beg asked to support gay marriage to a Wterner beg asked to ice a ke supportg Isis.

LONDON (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - A four-year urt battle over a ke promotg gay marriage has taken an emotnal toll on a Northern Irish activist at the center of the row, the equaly missn said on rights mpaigner Gareth Lee took a bakery to urt the pal of Northern Ireland - the only part of the Uned Kgdom where same-sex marriage is not allowed - after nceled his orr 2014 for a ke wh a pro-gay Bakg Company Belfast was found guilty of discrimatn 2015 for refg to make a ke iced wh the “Support Gay Marriage” slogan, and a picture of characters Bert and Ernie om the televisn show Same losg an appeal, based on s owners’ Christian beliefs, bakery owners Daniel and Amy McArthur took the se to the London-based Supreme Court, which sat Belfast for a two-day hearg, and nclud late Wednday afternoon. “This (hearg) is hopefully gog to settle once and for all - that the law is there is to protect people, and this needs certaty, ” he mirrors another se the Uned Stat where a baker refed to sell a ke to a gay uple for a weddg, reflectg a broar bate as to whether servic n be refed to certa David Sffield, who reprented the bakery, told the Supreme Court on Tuday that the owners had not turned away gay ctomers.

The legal battle volvg a bakery refg to bake a ke statg 'Support Gay Marriage' is to go to the European Court of Human se beg taken to the ECHR do not volve the owners of the bakery, stead is beg taken agast the UK. And the story of how the icg on that ke beme, bizarrely, an exhib the ntemporary culture 2014 Gareth Lee, an LGBT activist, asked Ashers bakery Belfast to make a ke rated wh imag of the Same Street puppets Bert and Ernie, together wh the slogan: “Support gay marriage”.

PATRICK STEWART BACKS BAKERY AFTER 'GAY KE' URT BATTLE

Other Christians prosecuted for preachg hatred clu Michael Overd, nvicted at Bristol crown urt of quotg homophobic passag om the Bible, and Shawn Hol, fed for preachg on the streets of Glasgow that gays served the “wrath of God” that Christians themselv are slow to censor. A plat by a gay rights activist that he had been discrimated agast when the Christian owners of a bakery Northern Ireland refed to make him a pro-gay marriage ke has been led admissible by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) story first h the headl July 2014, when Gareth Lee said he had requted a ke om Ashers Bakg Company which said “support gay marriage” along wh a picture of Same Street characters Bert and Ernie, and the logo of Queerspace. The ke was beg missned for an event hosted by Northern Ireland’s first openly gay mayor Bangor, County Down, to mark the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia and the time, same-sex marriage was still illegal Northern the bakery, which is Christian-owned, said that the makg the ke was “at odds wh our beliefs”.

Judg at the ECHR today led that Mr Lee had failed to “exhst domtic remedi” the se, which has been ed ‘the gay ke’ se had reached the ECHR when the UK’s Supreme Court overled prev judgements 2018 to ci that Mr Lee was not discrimated agast by beg nied the a wrten lg today, the ECHR said: “Conventn arguments mt be raised explicly or substance before the domtic thori. 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.

GAY COUPLE LOS SUPREME COURT BATTLE ON WEDDG CAKE

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. McCoy for The New York TimThe urt’s cisn favor of a Colorado web signer, Lorie Smh, had an unual feature: It was based on njecture and Smh, who objects to providg weddg-related servic for same-sex marriag, never turned down a gay uple.

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. ”Acrdg to pollg om 2021 by the Public Relign Rearch Instute, majori of most major relig groups — cludg Catholics, Jews and Mlims — oppose allowg small-bs owners to refe to serve gay and lbian people on relig grounds.

IRELAND 'GAY KE' ROW TAK TOLL ON ACTIVIST, SAYS EQUALY MISSN

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.

McCoy for The New York TimGay and transgenr rights anizatns on Friday nmned the Supreme Court lg backg a Colorado webse signer’s bid to refe to provi servic for same-sex marriag, llg the cisn a dangero backslidg on L. 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. 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.

'GAY KE' LEGAL BATTLE TO GO TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

”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. Colorado Civil Rights Cote for The New York TimThe Supreme Court’s cisn on Friday favor of a Colorado web signer has echo of a 2018 se about a baker who had turned away a gay uple seekg a weddg that cisn, Masterpiece Cakhop v.

Kennedy, who wrote the majory opn the 7-to-2 cisn 2018, seemed unable to choose between two of his re mments: He was the thor of every major Supreme Court cisn protectg gay rights unr the Constutn and also the urt’s most arnt fenr of ee speech.

“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.

THE ‘GAY KE’ FIGHT: WHY THE BAKERS HAD A RIGHT TO REFE THIS ORR

Another poll by Pew found that almost half of whe evangelils born after 1964 favored same-sex marriage 2017, pared to about a quarter of olr whe fah groups that have tradnally opposed gay rights now support some acmodatns for 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.

Emphasizg her view that prohibg bs om discrimatg agast gay people is a regulatn of nduct, not speech, she wr: “The majory’s repeated votn of this Orwellian thought policg is revealg of jt how much misunrstands this se. The New Republic published an article reportg that the Colorado webse signer who oppos same-sex marriage, and whose challenge to Colorado’s antidiscrimatn law took this se to the Supreme Court, may not have received an actual requt om a gay uple to create a weddg 30, 2023, 10:17 a. ETHere’s what to know about the ee speech a 6-to-3 vote, spl along iologil l, the Supreme Court sid on Friday 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.

‘GAY KE’ ROW SE LED ADMISSIBLE BY EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER YEARS-LONG BATTLE

”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.

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

TEXAS JUDGE WHO DON’T WANT TO PERFORM GAY MARRIAGE CEREMONI HOP WEB SIGNER’S SUPREME COURT SE HELPS HER FIGHT