‘Gay cake’ row bakery to appeal discrimination ruling
The owners of a bakery which was earlier this month found guilty of discrimination after refusing to make a “support gay marriage” cake, have said they will appeal the ruling.
The owners of Ashers Bakery in Belfast were last week found guilty of unlawful discrimination based on sexual orientation and political or religious grounds.
Last July, Ashers Baking Company – based in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland – refused the request of gay rights activist Gareth Lee for a cake showing the message ‘Support Gay Marriage’ above an image of Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie.
The McArthur family, who own the bakery, have now said they will challenge the ruling after having sought legal advice.
In a statement, the family said: “After much careful and prayerful consideration given to legal advice, we have decided to appeal the judgement handed down last Tuesday.
“We continue to insist that we have done nothing wrong as we have discriminated against no individual but rather acted according to what the Bible teaches regarding marriage.
“As many other people have already noted, Christian beliefs seem to have been trampled over in this judgement and we believe this only has negative effects for our society.
“Our hope and prayer would be that an appeal will allow us and other Christians to live out their faith in Jesus Christ in every part of their lives, including their workplace.”
Supermarket giant Tesco last week said it was ‘reviewing’ its relationship with Ashers, after the company was found guilty.
Speaking to the media after the ruling, Mr McArthur said the bakery would not close, and that despite the ruling, they did not consider that they had done anything wrong.
“We will not be closing down. We have not done anything wrong”, Mr McArthur said.
Earlier this week, the bakery announced it would begin only making baby and birthday cakes, following the ruling.
