A judge has ruled that a Christian-run bakery discriminated against a gay customer by refusing to make a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan. Ashers Baking Company, based in County Antrim, was taken to court by gay rights activist Gareth Lee. A Belfast judge said, as a business, Ashers was not exempt from discrimination law. The firm's general manager said they were "extremely disappointed" by the ruling and are considering an appeal. Damages of £500 were agreed in advance by legal teams on both sides of the dispute. A lawyer for Mr Lee said the money would be donated to charity. The judge said Ashers is "conducting a business for profit", and it is not a religious group. The firm was found to have discriminated against Mr Lee on the grounds of sexual orientation as well as his political beliefs. The judge said she accepted that Ashers has "genuine and deeply held" religious views, but said the business was not above the law. Mr Lee was assisted in taking legal action by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland ________________________________________________________________________________________ Interesting this one. I personally find it an absolute affront to democracy and freedom. The man wasn't refused business because he was gay, if he wanted a cake without a slogan that contradicted their religion, he would have been served. I wonder if a Muslim t-shirt maker would be found guilty of discrimination if he refused to make a shirt saying "Allah isn't real."....
A clash of common law and common sense. Just another reason why the likes of @di5co are leaving these isles!
I'm pretty politically correct but this is wrong. The bakers had no problem given the bloke a cake. He just didn't want to decorate it with something that goes against his beliefs. He should be able to decorate his ****ing cakes however the **** he likes. If you commissioned Damien Hurst to paint something for you I think he'd flat out refuse to write gay is good or whatever they wanted on top of it. It's a disgrace this.
They'll most likely point at him stood next to you sucking on an eclair with a steak bake in either hand.
But has he even broken common law? Service hasn't been refused BECAUSE of the gentleman's sexual orientation...
Not sure why the gay couple in question would feel the need to have a pro-gay slogan on a wedding cake anyway. Would straight people have a pro-heterosexual slogan on the cake? More like a straight couple would have a miniature bride/groom stuck on top. There seems to have been a little bit of mischief making gone on here.
Maybe the gay couple can now have the cake done with the slogan, "Sticking it up Christians" on it? In pink icing, of course
It's disgraceful, A person should be able to serve or refuse to serve whoever they want for any reason they want. This is a democracy, well, supposed to be.
It's a clash of human rights Funky. The right of the seller to refuse on the grounds of religious beliefs against the rights of the buyer to follow their own personal freedom of choice. It's called the European Convention on Human Rights! And it's a nice little earner for lawyers!
It's ****ing bullshit. Just let morality decide I say. Let people and their own opinions decide if they want to buy from that shop in light of the events. Like you say all this **** just makes Lawyers richer.
I agree mate. But it's also a clash of personal morals. The thing is, some people want to make a point of principle and see it go to court, wasting thousands of pounds of tax payers money. I've said it many a time on here, common sense is a dying trait amongst our species!
The icing on the cake would be if the gay bloke's little faces 'crumbled' .......... but that's just pie in the sky
