In a case which could be replicated in Ireland, a baker in the US state of Iowa may face legal action and has  been sent hate mail after she told a lesbian couple that she could not make them a wedding cake on the basis of her religious beliefs.

Victoria Childress, who runs a cake baking business from home, said that she didn’t do the cake because of her convictions.

She said: “I did not belittle them, I did not speak rudely to them. There were no condescending remarks made, nothing.”

Ireland’s Civil Partnership law, enacted last year, means service providers such as photographers and parish halls, for example, could be sued for declining to be involved in ceremonies or receptions once the law came into force.

This is because the Civil Partnership Bill amends the Equal Status Act and Employment Equality Act to the words “marital status” with “civil status”.

In other jurisdictions where civil unions have been legalised, people who have refused to facilitate such unions have been successfully sued.

Lesbian couple Trina Vodraska and Janelle Sievers thanked her for being honest. However, they may lodge a civil rights complaint over the incident.

Victoria owns Victoria’s Cake Cottage in Des Moines, Iowa, and has received hate messages for her actions.

But she has also received support for her actions: “People are telling me they were proud of me for standing up for my beliefs because not many people do that these days.”

The lesbian couple released a statement which said: “Awareness of equality was our only goal in bringing this to light, it is not about cake or someone’s right to refuse service to a customer.”

They said they hoped “we have prevented someone else from experiencing the same type of bigotry”.

Earlier this year in Canada gay activists protested outside the home of a Christian florist because she would not provide flowers for a lesbian wedding.