The European Court of Human Rights said on Thursday it will not hear a high-profile discrimination case involving pro-gay-marriage cakes and cartoon characters.
The court ruled it does not find the case involving activist Gareth Lee and the Ashers Baking Co. admissible. It claimed that Lee did “exhaust domestic remedies” after having his order for a cake be refused by the company because it would have had Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie and the phrase “Support Gay Marriage” on it.
“The supreme court found on the facts of the case that the applicant was not treated differently on account of his real or perceived sexual orientation, but rather that the refusal to supply the cake was because of the defendants’ religious objection to gay marriage,” the court wrote in its decision. “What was principally at issue, therefore, was not the effect on the applicant’s private life or his freedom to hold or express his opinions or beliefs, but rather whether Ashers bakery was required to produce a cake expressing the applicant’s political support for gay marriage.”
Lee expressed dismay at the verdict, saying that it was only determined on a technicality. He maintained that the refusal of the cake order violated his freedom of expression, which he said: “must equally apply to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.” It is unknown whether or not he plans to appeal.
Lee originally ordered the cake to support a campaign to allow same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland. The campaign succeeded when Britain’s Parliament stepped in to bring the region into line with the rest of the country. Two women who tied the knot in February 2020 became the first gay couple to wed in Northern Ireland.
Britain’s Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that the bakery’s refusal to make the cake Lee ordered did not amount to discrimination, reversing a lower court’s ruling.
Lee then took his case to the Strasbourg, France-based human rights court, arguing that the U.K. Supreme Court decision breached the European Convention on Human Rights.
In a written ruling, the rights court said it could not rule because Lee had not raised the convention in his U.K. court actions.
“Because he had failed to exhaust domestic remedies, the application was inadmissible,” the Court of Human Rights said.
LGBTQ support group the Rainbow Project called the ruling disappointing.
“When a commercial business is providing services to the public, they cannot discriminate against their customers or clients on any grounds protected by equality law,” John O’Doherty, the group’s director, said.
He said the 2018 U.K. Supreme Court ruling created legal uncertainty throughout the country.
“Unfortunately, with today’s decision, that uncertainty will remain,” he said.
The Christian Institute, which had backed the legal fight of the McArthur family that runs Ashers Baking Co., welcomed the ruling, which a spokesman called “good news for free speech, good news for Christians, and good news for the McArthurs.”
“The UK Supreme Court engaged at length with the human rights arguments in this case and upheld the McArthurs’ rights to freedom of expression and religion,” spokesman Simon Calvert said.”
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Original Article: Activist Loses 8-Year Court Battle Over Bakery’s Refusal to Provide Pro-Gay Marriage Cake (msn.com)
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Down with LGBTQ+ forever!!!!!
The sick Godless freak of nature that has to force their sick morals on normal people in the past 8 years probably change their gender a half a dozen times so they can suck more attention and benefits out of hard-working normal Americans, my response to these freaks of nature who wants to push their demonic morals on society and our children, is tuff crap.
Did you happen to read the article? This case was in the UK, not the USA!!!
Right is Right! Doesn’t matter where it happened. Hopefully, this will set a precedent for the world. Something just the opposite happened here in my city when a gay sign maker was asked to print signs for a revival to happen and they refused. What happened? The Christians surrounded the business and prayed. They didn’t get their signs, but the business closed up and is long gone!
Isn’t it ‘Your business, your rules’ ? Surely you would be able to censor what went on any cake you made, including obscenities or hate speech, or anything that made you or your employees uncomfortable?
The person suing the bakery could just as easily have gone somewhere else to have their cake made.
I am NOT anti Gay, it just seems that someone is trying to force another person to comply with something they don’t want to do. From what I have read of the case the shopkeeper was polite in their refusal on religious grounds.
Gays do not have a “right” to express their opinions in the manners of their choice by forcing others to participate in their choices of expressions. They have a right to buy what is available for sale. They have no right to require that special products be produced to promote their opinions.
GOOD!
Hmm…He could have BAKED HIS OWN FRICKING CAKE! But he wanted the attention, so he thought that harassing someone who’s trying to make a living would work instead. But this blew up in his face BIG time. I hope he has to pay ALL of the legal fees in this matter…I’m not Anti-gay, but this was just too much…there are other bakeries out there that would have made the cake.
Support God and Mother Nature, to HELL with perverts
If I were the bakery owner I would have been very concerned with mixing Muppet figures with slogans to support gay rights for two reasons: 1) Children like Muppets and many people would not want to see their child’s favorite characters on a cake supporting something they do not believe in; and 2) The cake would then link Muppets with supporting gay causes which could be a liability issue!
I do believe the Muppets have long since endorsed LGBTQwhatever causes on the show…
None of the Muppets claim to be Gay or Lisbion. Christians know the difference in right and wrong.
So sick of having this bs crammed down our throats. I have never understood why gay people think that is the first thing I need to know about them not that they’re good people, a good friend, volunteer in their communities, a hard worker or good to their families. NOPE it’s all about being gay which tells me this is truly a mental disorder.
Now counter-sue!!!!!