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'Gay cake' row: equality law cannot have any exceptions, court told 'Gay cake' row: equality law cannot have any exceptions, court told
(about 2 hours later)
Equality legislation aimed at preventing discrimination on grounds of sexuality, religion, race, age or gender cannot have any exceptions, the court case concerning the “gay cake” controversy in Northern Ireland has heard. A bakery customer has told Belfast high court that he was left feeling like a “lesser person” after the business refused to make him a gay-themed cake, featuring the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie.
A barrister for a man alleging that the Evangelical Christian-owned County Antrim baker yAshers is guilty of anti-gay discrimination told Belfast high court: “The rule of law says there shall be no discrimination in the commercial sphere.” The Christian-owned Ashers bakery cancelled the request for the cake from Gareth Lee 48 hours after his original order. The design for the cake also included a support-gay-marriage message in icing and a QueerSpace logo.
Robin Allen QC is representing Gareth Lee, who tried to order a gay-themed cake which had the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie alongside a pro-gay marriage message. Ashers said it would not bake the cake on religious grounds, specifically because of their objection to gay marriage. Gay rights activist Lee told the court in Belfast he had been shocked by the refusal. “I expressed disbelief. I couldn’t believe it was happening. This is Northern Ireland. This shouldn’t happen,” he said.
Allen told the court on Thursday that “large businesses like Ashers… cannot be allowed to break contracts with individuals. If that’s allowed, the rule of law is worth nothing.” He added that the bakery had made him feel like he “wasn’t worthy of service because they were Christian”.
He claimed that a director from the firm had accepted the order from his client but the request was then rejected. The business stands accused of discrimination under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (NI) 2006 and the Fair Employment and Treatment Order (NI) 1998.
Lee’s action against the bakery is supported by the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland which, under the 2006 Equality Act, is obliged to investigate claims of discrimination in the region. The Equality Commission is funding Lee’s case by up to £30,000.
Allen said the 2006 act “does not provide exception for scruples”. The lawyer pointed out that under the law even religious bodies “if they venture into the commercial practices, they cannot discriminate”. Lee had asked for the cake to mark the election of the first openly LGBT mayor in Northern Ireland last year – Andrew Muir, an Alliance councillor for Northdown.
In a society “where sectarianism has been rife” the one thing that can glue people together is that they can do business with each other, Allen added. On day one of the hearing, Robin Allen QC, Lee’s barrister, told the court that Lee had been a regular customer at Ashers and rang the bakery to order the cake after seeing an advertising leaflet in the city centre shop.
He said the court battle was a David vs Goliath struggle, but in this case the “David” was in fact his client pitched against Ashers, which had “net assets of over £1m”. The lawyer said there had been no issue over the cake when Lee called the bakery’s director. A few days later, Lee was told there was a “problem” with the cake, Allen said, adding that there was no information on the leaflet as to what was acceptable or unacceptable in terms of a theme for a cake baked by Ashers.
Speaking outside court before the hearing began, Daniel McArthur, of Ashers Bakery, said his company was “just trying to be faithful to the Bible” over refusing to bake the cake for Northern Ireland’s first openly gay elected mayor, Andrew Muir. Referring to the original order, he added: “You would think that if there were religious scruples, the director of the company might know.”
Before entering the packed courthouse, McArthur said he had been humbled by the support from fellow Christians and placed his faith in God over the case. Earlier, Allen pointed out that equality legislation aimed at preventing discrimination on grounds of sexuality, religion, race, age or gender in Northern Ireland cannot have any exceptions.
Prior to the hearing, Muir had made an 11th-hour appeal for the two parties to talk. He told the court the rule of law said there should “be no discrimination in the commercial sphere”.
The Alliance party councillor from North Down, who is not a party in the case, called for compromise: “Unfortunately it has pitched people of religious belief against lesbian and gay people and I think that’s very sad. It’s not the type of society that I want in Northern Ireland where we have that adversarial setup. Ashers said it would not bake the cake on religious grounds, specifically becayse if ab objection to gay marriage.
“There should always have been mediation in relation to this matter and if there’s an opportunity for mediation today and tomorrow, let’s go for that. Let’s try to resolve this outside the court because legal action should always be the last resort.” But Allen told the court that large businesses such as Ashers could not be allowed to break contracts with individuals.
“If that’s allowed the rule of law is worth nothing,” he said, adding, that under the 2006 Act, even religious bodies, if they ventured into commercial practice, could not discriminate.
Lee’s lawyer said the court battle was a David versus Goliath struggle but in this case the ‘David’ was in fact his client pitched against Ashers, which had “net assets of over one million pounds”.
Speaking outside court on Thursday, before the hearing, Daniel McArthur, of Ashers Bakery, said his company was “just trying to be faithful to the Bible” over refusing to bake the gay-themed cake.
McArthur said he had been humbled by the support from fellow Christians and placed his faith in God as the case was about to begin.
“We don’t know what the outcome of the case will be but we do know that God is faithful and we place our trust in him,” McArthur said.
The case is expected to continue in the high court until Friday afternoon.