Ashers Bakery has won a hard-earned victory at the European Court of Human Rights after a stressful and seemingly endless seven-year-long legal battle – and the verdict should be welcomed as a victory for freedom of conscience and belief. It is also a triumph for common sense.
The wider Ashers debate is about freedom of conscience on religious and political matters, and ultimately, this was a human rights fight from the beginning. Make no mistake about it: this case, taken by the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland, was never about ‘equality’. Rather, this tumultuous, long drawn-out public saga was about forcing Daniel and Amy McArthur (and by extension, all of us) to conform to one set of beliefs, and one stringent worldview, whilst eroding the right to uphold religious views.
Subduing people into accepting your chosen worldview is hugely problematic on an ethical level – but dragging a hard-working family and business through both the domestic and international courts in a determined effort to destroy both reputation and livelihood can only be described as contemptible.
Gareth Lee, the customer at the centre of the case, argued that he was being personally discriminated against when his order for a cake was turned down by Ashers bakery at their Belfast city centre store in May 2014.
But Mr Lee, a gay rights activist, was not ordering just any cake — his order was a cake emblazoned with the politically-charged message, ‘Support Gay Marriage’ for an advocacy event set to take place later that week. This was not about a gay man being refused an order for a birthday cake or a box of eclairs. This was about asking Ashers to help promote a message – one which went against their conscience. And while you are free to advocate for what you believe in, others cannot be forced to be unwilling cheerleaders for your cause.
It is perhaps significant that, seeing as the customer had a broad choice of bakeries who would have been happy to fulfil the order, a Christian bakery was specifically chosen. The Northern Irish bakery openly explain on their website that their name is Biblical, stating: ‘Our name comes from the Bible. Asher was a tribe of Israel who had many skilled bakers and created bread fit for a king’. A conflict of interests was not unlikely.
And while Mr Lee could have accepted the apology offered by Ashers, taken his refund of £36.50 and driven around the corner to the next best alternative, the now notorious Sesame Street ‘gay cake’ triggered an astonishing publicity storm, turning out to be the most expensive cake in history.
Proving that the most pricey cake in recent times is not actually Prince William and Kate’s eight-tier cake for the ‘wedding of the century’ which reportedly cost £57,000, Mr Lee’s cake ended up costing at least £500,000 in legal fees.
To make matters worse, mammoth legal costs on his end were footed by the NI taxpayer through the Equality Commission. Ashers had to pay at least £200,000 in legal costs in the case which was paid for through the Christian Institute, the organisation who supported them, according to reports.
The Equality Commission, which took the case for Mr Lee, has been accused of wasting an eye-watering sum of public money. Welcoming the verdict yesterday, Northern Ireland’s First Minister Paul Givan said that the Equality Commission should never have taken this case to Court in the first place.
“The McArthur family should never have been taken to Court and are to be praised for their faithful witness as they showed tremendous grace through this trial.
“The tax payer funded Equality Commission has serious questions to answer for pursing this family over a cake that cost £36,” Mr Givan said in his statement.
In the statement lamenting the waste of taxpayer money, he added that the case was about “fundamental freedoms for everyone to live their life as per their beliefs,” writing “This is a good day for religious freedom and freedom of speech.”
The upheaval and huge financial toll of the last seven years could have all been avoided if another cake had been ordered – but instead of choosing to tread the path of diplomacy, the hard and fast pursuit of a reputable family business played out over the good part of a decade, to the sure detriment of the many people involved. Seven years of extreme emotional toll and family stress for a young couple with small children who were simply trying to make a living, while trying to be consistent with their religious beliefs.
Seven years which cannot be taken back — although thankfully, the couple say the trials have made them stronger. Speaking in 2016 ahead of their appeal, the McArthurs said the case had strengthened their marriage and faith in God.
“God has used this to strengthen our marriage and our relationship with God. We have to trust in him and we have seen him answer our prayers time and time again,” they said as they prepared for another arduous court battle and to once again feel the heat of huge global media attention.
As Lady Hale, then President of the UK Supreme Court, said when she ruled in favour of Ashers in 2018, “Their objection was to the message on the cake, not the personal characteristics of Mr Lee”.
Despite repeated, divisive claims from LGBT activists at every twist and turn of this protracted legal battle, Mr Lee was not discriminated against because of who he was as an individual, or what he believed in.
“They would have refused to make such a cake for any customer, irrespective of their sexual orientation,” Lady Hale said.
“It was clear we did not hate anyone. We didn’t want to discriminate against anyone. We did what we did because of our Christian beliefs,” Daniel McArthur told The Christian Institute before their appeal at London’s Supreme Court. “It’s done out of love for God, to obey Him,” he added.
Ashers Bakery, as a Christian family and as a private business, simply could not be forced to actively promote a message which went against their beliefs by writing the slogan on the cake. This is a matter not only of freedom of conscience and the right to uphold religious beliefs — but is also one of freedom of speech.
As Lady Hale pointed out, freedom of expression, as guaranteed by article 10 of the European convention on human rights, includes the right ‘not to express an opinion which one does not hold’.
She added that “nobody should be forced to have or express a political opinion in which he does not believe”.
Yesterday’s ruling, more than three years on, also protects the right to free speech and freedom of expression.
As the Supreme Court summarised in 2018:
“The less favourable treatment was afforded to the message not to the man […]. The situation is not comparable to people being refused jobs, accommodation, or business simply because of their religious faith.
“It is more akin to a Christian printing business being required to print leaflets promoting an atheist message.”
Of course Ashers will make you a cake if you want a cake — regardless of your sexual orientation, religion, race, or political beliefs. What they will not do, however, and should never be obliged to do, is promote a message or moral code they do not believe in. This was a concerted and relentless effort to take away the freedom of a Christian couple and to prevent them from holding religious views.
The issues of conscience, rights and freedom ignited by the notorious ‘gay cake’ case have led to an explosion of public interest while generating real questions about the place of conscience in the common square.
Allowing Ashers, as providers of goods and services, the discretion to choose which lawful messages they are willing to deliver, is a common sense step which protects the profoundly important right to freedom of conscience and freedom of speech.
This judgement is about having the fundamental freedom to live your life consistent with your beliefs – something we should all be able to enjoy without discrimination. After seven years of persecution, a hard-working and convicted young couple have set a important precedent that we should all be allowed to hold beliefs informed by our conscience and religion.
This long-awaited vindication at the European Court of Human Rights has allowed Ashers – quite unlike Mr Lee – to have their cake, and eat it, too.