Christian bakers in ‘gay cake’ row ‘relieved’ after court win
THE Christian owners of a bakery at the centre of the so-called “gay cake” case expressed their “delight and relief” after winning a UK Supreme Court appeal over a claim that they had discriminated against a customer.
The court allowed a challenge by the McArthur family, who run Ashers bakery in Belfast, in a unanimous ruling in London.
Gay rights activist Gareth Lee originally brought the legal action, claiming he had been discriminated against when the firm refused to make him a cake iced with the slogan ‘Support Gay Marriage’.
Mr Lee initially won his case in the county court and then at the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal, but the McArthurs then challenged those rulings at a Supreme Court hearing in Belfast in May.
Speaking outside court following the ruling yesterday, the bakery’s general manager Daniel McArthur said: “We’re delighted and relieved at today’s ruling.
“We’re particularly pleased the Supreme Court emphatically accepted what we’ve said all along – we did not turn down this order because of the person who made it, but because of the message itself.
“I know a lot of people will be glad to hear this ruling today, because this ruling protects freedom of speech and freedom of conscience for everyone.”
‘We did not turn down this order because of the person who made it’