Belfast bakery faces legal action over ‘gay rights cake’
By Josh Haggis
A Christian-run bakery in Belfast is facing legal action for refusing to bake a cake iced with a pro-gay marriage slogan.
Ashers Baking Company attracted criticism from the LGBT community in July when it declined a gay rights supporter’s order to bake a cake topped with a picture of Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie, alongside a slogan supporting marriage equality. Read the full story here.
Daniel McArthur, the family-run establishment’s manager, has now revealed that Ashers Baking Company has received a letter from the Equality Commission warning that it will face legal action unless it pays compensation within the next seven days, reports Sky News.
The letter explains that the bakery’s refusal to make the cake “raises issues of public importance regarding the extent to which suppliers of goods and services can refuse service on grounds of sexual orientation, religious belief and political opinion” – and says that “whether or not discrimination has occurred will be a matter for the court”.
Despite the potential legal battle, Ashers Baking Company has refused to back down on the issue.
“We don’t want to be forced to promote a cause which is against our biblical beliefs,” McCarthur told Sky News. “We’ve had a lot of support from people who disagree with our stance on same-sex marriage. They think that we should have the freedom to decline an order that conflicts with our conscience.”
“We’re continuing to hold to the stand that we took originally because we believe it’s biblical, we believe it’s what God would want us to do, and we also think that if we do cave in to the Equality Commission at this point it’ll put pressure on other citizens who are defending their view of traditional marriage,” he added.
In April, the Northern Ireland Assembly rejected a third attempt to introduce same-sex marriage in the province, which would bring it in line with the rest of the UK.