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LONDON – The British Supreme Court confirmed Wednesday the right of a bakery to refuse ordering a cake for a cake adorned with the message "Supporting gay marriage", alleging that forcing bakers to the to manufacture would have violated their right to freedom of expression.
After a multi-year trial exceeding half a million dollars, the highest court in the United Kingdom has stated that it is not discrimination, but a different question: people can refuse to promote messages with which they disagree.
In May 2014, Gareth Lee ordered a cake at Ashers Bakery in Northern Ireland for an event organized to campaign for gay marriage. In Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, same-sex marriage is not legally recognized.
Mr. Lee ordered an iced cake with a representation of the characters from Sesame Street, Bert and Ernie, as well as the words "Support gay marriage". The owners of Ashers refused to prepare it on the grounds that they did not want to approve the same sex. marriage because it was against their religious beliefs.
The owners of Ashers Bakery, Daniel and Amy McArthur, refused to make a cake for Mr. Lee on the grounds that they did not want to approve of same-sex marriage because it was contrary to their religious beliefs.
Photo:
Victoria Jones / Zuma Press
British judges ruled in favor of bakers on the grounds that they were not discriminating against Mr Lee because they were homosexuals, but opposed the addition of a message with which they would Were not in agreement.
Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court sided with a Colorado baker who refused to prepare a wedding cake for a gay couple.
Wednesday's decision dealt with a slightly different issue. "The objection was about the message on the cake," said the British Supreme Court in its judgment, "no personal characteristics of the messenger".
Witnessing the complexity of these debates, the decision of the British court was hailed by both a Christian evangelical group and a prominent gay rights activist.
"In a free society, people should be able to discriminate against ideas they do not agree with," said Peter Tatchell, an LGBT rights activist.
The case around a £ 36.50 ($ 48) cake is turned into a battle between a Christian group and a British government agency. The Ashers bakery has spent more than £ 250,000 in this business, supported by the Christian Institute, an evangelical Christian group. Mr. Lee was supported by the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland, an organization funded by British taxpayers. The commission also paid £ 250,000 in legal fees, according to a spokesman.
In 2015, Mr. Lee brought the case to court, alleging that she had violated two anti-discrimination laws: the Northern Ireland Equality Act and the Fair Work Act. A year later, a North Irish court ruled in favor of Mr. Lee. But this decision was canceled Wednesday.
"All I wanted was to order a cake from a store that made it on demand," Lee said after the decision. "I paid my money, my money was taken and a few days later, my order was declined because of the beliefs of the business owners who had made me feel like a second citizen." class."
Simon Calvert, deputy director of public relations at the Christian Institute, said the case did not involve discrimination against Mr. Lee, but a "speech imposed".
The Equality Commission expressed concern that the decision would mean "business owners 'beliefs can override clients' equality rights, which we believe is contrary to the legislator's intent" .
Northern Ireland is the only Western European territory not to legalize same-sex marriage. Several attempts to introduce a bill to change this were rejected by the North Irish Assembly.
Write to Max Colchester at [email protected]
