A family-run bakery in Northern Ireland that refused to serve a gay client has been found guilty of discrimination.
The Ashers Bakery refused to give a client a cake with a pro-LGBTQ message in 2014, citing the family’s Christian beliefs. On Oct. 24, the bakery’s owners failed in their effort to overturn a ruling that stated the bakery discriminated against the gay customer on the basis of sexual orientation.
Ashers turned away Gareth Lee, a gay rights activist, who wanted to buy a cake that said “Support Gay Marriage” to support an International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia event, according to a BBC report.
Lee’s allies in the pro-LGBTQ community backed his cause.
“If you are a company that is trading out there in the marketplace and someone comes to you, you can’t pick and choose whether or not to fulfill that order based on their sexual orientation,” Gavin Boyd, a gay rights campaigner with the Rainbow Project in Northern Ireland, said.
