Lee v Ashers Baking Co Ltd & Ors – an analysis

Yesterday I posted a fairly brief summary of the Ashers Bakery case from media reports. Following is a more considered analysis based on the judgment itself.

The facts

The plaintiff, Gareth Lee, was a gay man associated with QueerSpace, an organisation for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community in Northern Ireland. To mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, in May 2014 he ordered a cake from Ashers Bakery bearing the slogan “Support Gay Marriage” and a picture of the Sesame Street puppets Bert and Ernie. He had previously bought things at the same branch of Ashers and had become aware from a leaflet that he could have a cake iced with a graphic of his own design [7]. Ashers initially accepted his order but the third defendant, Mrs Karen McArthur, subsequently telephoned him to say that his order could not be fulfilled because Ashers was “a Christian business and, in hindsight, she should not have taken the order”: she apologised and refunded his money [9].

In Lee v Ashers Baking Co Ltd & Anor [2015] NICty 2 Mr Lee claimed before Belfast County Court that he had been discriminated against contrary to the provisions of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 and/or the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 [1]. Continue reading