‘Gay cake’ discrimination case continues in Northern Ireland as bakery owners defend decision

The row over a ‘gay cake’ order continued in the high court in Belfast this week.

Gareth Lee placed an order with Ashers Baking Company, but was later told by the bakery that they could not fulfil the request for a cake topped with a picture of Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie, alongside a slogan supporting marriage equality.

The discrimination case was brought with the support of the Equality Commission. Speaking in court, Lee said that he felt “unworthy”, adding that the refusal made him “feel like a lesser person”.

Karen McArthur, a director at Ashers, told the court that she had initially accepted the order to avoid a “confrontation” with the gay rights activist.

“In my heart, I knew I would not be able to put that (slogan) on the cake,” she said, adding that she did not want to “embarrass” the customer in the bakery.

Ashers solicitors said that the business took issue with the cake, not Lee or his sexuality.

“The issue here was the content of the cake, and not a characteristic of the customer,” he said. “It was the cake not the customer.”

Earlier in the week, general manager Daniel McArthur gave evidence, stating that he believed that the “business has been given to us by God and how we use it is on our shoulders”.

He confirmed that he had spoken to a church elder to “ask his thoughts” on this issue before the order was eventually declined, and subsequently completed by another bakery.

“We were not doing it in defiance of the law,” he explained. “I think it is quite obvious that we do not know a lot of the ins and outs of the law. Our Christian faith is of utmost importance to us. It is how we run our lives; it is how we live our lives; it is how we bring up our families. Before God, this is something we couldn’t make.”

The case will resume on Monday (March 30).

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