Crumbs of sense

When even Peter Tatchell sides with Ashers, the Irish bakers who recently lost their appeal against a ruling that their refusal to bake a cake supporting gay marriage was discriminatory, we must think carefully about the issues involved.

Much is made of the distinction between rejecting an idea rather than discriminating against an individual. I fear that the baker’s argument highlights a common religious sophistry : gay people are not unequal, they just shouldn’t have access to the institutions of equality. It is a false distinction.

Many ad absurdum thought experiments are employed: what if someone wanted a swastika on a cake; what if someone wanted a cartoon of Mohammed? These strawman examples, which would be designed to offend, are not in the same ball park as gay equality.

A better thought experiment might be a cake advocating racial equality. Would a refusal be tolerated under freedom of speech or would it attract the attention of equality laws?

I have been self-employed all my life and yes, I do get to choose my customers, but I don’t have a shop front on the High Street.

NEIL BARBER Saughtonhall Drive, Edinburgh