Ashers Baking Company, the Belfast business at the centre of a court action over having to bake a pro-same-sex marriage cake has launched its legal bid for an appeal to the ruling made against it last month.
According to The Christian Institute, which has backed Ashers’ owners, the McArthur family, and fund-raised for their legal defence, lawyers for the company have now lodged papers with Judge Isobel Brownlie, seeking leave to take the case to the Court of Appeal. It was Judge Brownlie who, in May, ruled that Ashers had been in breach of equality legislation in refusing to complete a cake for a gay advocate which was to bear a message supportive of gay marriage beside a picture of Sesame Street characters Ernie and Bert. Ashers was ordered to pay £500 damages despite legal argument that the refusal was based on deeply held religious beliefs around the issue of marriage and its meaning as a union between one man and one woman.
Lawyers for Ashers have said they “have identified the broad points of law with which the applicant is dissatisfied”, referencing six distinct points of law on which the appeal would be fought.
These points include whether the judge was correct in law in making a finding of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation; on the grounds of religious or political opinion, and whether the judge should have taken into account Ashers’ protected right to hold and manifest their genuinely-held religious belief that marriage is, according to God’s law, between one man and one woman, pursuant to Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In a statement announcing the beginning of the appeals process, Simon Calvert of The Christian Institute said: “I believe that most people think that this is a ruling that should be overturned.
“There has been such extraordinary support from people from all walks of life who are appalled by what has happened to the McArthur family. There is huge public support for an appeal and it is vitally important that the higher courts consider this issue.
“This court decision will have dramatic consequences if it goes unchallenged.”