Agency hired to snap Ashers owners refuses to hand over photos in protest

A PHOTOGRAPHIC agency hired to take pictures of the Christian owners of a bakery after their Supreme Court victory in the ‘gay cake’ case has refused to hand over the images, saying the company was “standing up against discrimination”.

On Wednesday Ashers bakery in Belfast won an appeal over a claim that they had discriminated against a customer after they refused to make him a cake iced with the slogan ‘Support Gay Marriage’. A photographer was booked using the agency Perfocal for a “business event” which listed only a few details about the brief — with no mention of the specific court case or the individuals to be photographed.

But the photographer later realised that the client was the Christian Institute, which has spent £250,000 backing the bakery in its successful legal challenge. The images were then withheld and a refund issued.

In a statement Tony Xu, the founder of the booking site, said: “We appreciate that this looks like tit for tat, and it is.”

Jim Allister and Equality Commissioner Dr Michael Wardlow

He said the firm had been booked for many religious ceremonies, as well as same-sex weddings.

“In short, we welcome customers

from all backgrounds,” he said.

“When our photographer on the ground learned what it was while doing the job, they felt im- mediately uncomfortable with the situation, as many members of the public are, but remained professional.

“As soon as I found out, though, I realised this was an opportunity to highlight exactly why this kind of result is damaging.

“This isn’t just about standing up against discrimination, I hope our stance serves as an example of exactly where this kind of judgement could lead us. Where does it end?”

Mr Xu added: “Division is being felt everywhere, and I’d sooner we all appreciated each other regardless of our differences.

“Our knowingly tit-for-tat stance is purely intended to highlight what this kind of judgement opens the door to.”

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Equality Commissioner must resign in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict, Jim Allister has said.

The TUV leader has written to Dr Michael Wardlow urging him to quit after it emerged that more than £250,000 of taxpayers’ money had been spent supporting gay rights activist Gareth Lee in his legal case.

Mr Allister said the verdict was “a devastating indictment of the Commission”.

“In consequence, as a step towards redeeming the position of the Commission, I urge you to take responsibility for this fiasco and resign forthwith,” he added.

Dr Wardlow has so far rejected calls to quit and defended the commission’s role in spending considerable sums of public money pursuing the case.

Meanwhile, Mr Lee is now weighing up his options over taking the case further with a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. If he opts for this route he could approach the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) to advocate on his behalf.

However, when contacted yesterday the NIHRC could not confirm if it would consider taking on any future case pursued by Mr Lee.

A spokesperson said: “Any individual who approaches the Commission seeking legal or financial support in their case would be fully considered.”