Bakery not a church, says judge in discrimination case

A NORTHERN IRISH bakery has been found guilty of discrimination after it refused to bake a cake decorated with a pro-gay-marriage message, in a judgment which makes clear that a business is not a religious organisation, and having sincere beliefs does not give owners the right to make choices about who they provide services for, writes Joanna Moorhead.

Ashers Baking Company, owned by a Presbyterian family, received support from Christians across the world for refusing to bake the cake for a local activist. Gay marriage is not legal in Northern Ireland.

On Tuesday district judge Isobel Brownlie acknowledged that the McArthur family, owners of the bakery, hold genuine deeply held religious beliefs, but said their business was not a religious organisation but a business run for profit.