A Christian bakery in the US state of Oregon faces a fine of up to $150,000 after a court found them guilty of ‘discrimination’. The company had declined to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.

Two years after a gay couple began legal proceedings against the Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery, the Oregon Bureau of Labour and Industries has ruled that the bakery owners were guilty of discrimination under the state’s Equality Act for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple and as a result of one of the company owners describing the couple’s union as an “abomination unto the Lord”.

Each plaintiff in the subsequent proceedings is entitled in law to $75,000 damages, resulting in Sweet Cakes facing its massive fine of $150,000. This comes in spite of the fact that the bakery has already been forced to close down as a result of an angry backlash that greeted news of the case.

The case has led to call for a conscience clause to the Equality Act to better protect freedom of religion.

The final scale of the fines against Sweet Cakes will be known at a hearing scheduled for March 10.