‘Gay cake’ case in court today
May 9, 2016
In the first day of court proceedings, Ashers Baking Company’s lawyer has reiterated that the bakers did not discriminate when they declined an order for a cake supporting same-sex marriage.
David Scoffield QC highlighted that discrimination must be against “another person”, not an idea or an object – such as a cake.
Since the McArthur family did not know the sexual orientation of Gareth Lee when he placed the order, they did not discriminate, he said.
He added: “To say you can discriminate against the orientation of a cake is nonsenical.”
Scoffield also told the court: “If a heterosexual person had asked for the same message on the cake they would have had the same response.”
Later in the day Scoffield said that to rule the family discriminated against Mr Lee would breach the European Convention on Human rights.
The family will attend the Court of Appeal in Belfast over the next few days as they attempt to have last year’s ruling against them overturned.
Donate
Thank you for supporting C4M. All donations are treated in the strictest confidence.
Please note, we always acknowledge gifts received. If you haven’t received a reply, please check your spam folder.
To make a donation over the phone, call 0207 403 7879 during office hours.
To support us regularly, or donate by cheque, click here.
Select Amount
- £10
- £25
- £50
- £100
Join us
If you would like to receive regular email updates from the Coalition for Marriage then please fill the form below to subscribe to our newsletter.
“I support defining marriage as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.”