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Belfast bakery loses appeal over refusal of gay-rights cake

(Associated Press)

Belfast

Mon, October 24, 2016 Published on Oct. 24, 2016 Published on 2016-10-24T18:04:39+07:00

Daniel and Amy McArthur of Ashers Baking Company speak to the media at Belfast High Court, Northern Ireland, as judgment is due to be delivered on an appeal brought by the Christian bakers who were found to have discriminated against gay man Gareth Lee, Oct. 24, 2016. (PA via AP/Niall Carson)

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Belfast bakery has lost its appeal against a 2015 court ruling that the business discriminated against a homosexual customer by refusing to bake a cake bearing the message "support gay marriage."

Monday's judgment against Ashers Baking Co. found that the family-run chain was wrong to treat gay customers any differently from heterosexuals. The Ashers directors argued they were happy to bake goods for anyone but could not put messages on their products at odds with their Christian beliefs.

The Northern Ireland Equality Commission pursued the lawsuit against Ashers on behalf of the spurned customer, who had ordered the cake for a gay rights event. Monday's judgment by the three-judge Court of Appeal found that the bakery had discriminated against the customer and violated British human rights law.