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Christian bakers in Belfast lose appeal on gay marriage cake discrimination case

Ashers General Manager Daniel McArthur is seen here in a screen capture from a video where he speaks to supporters at Waterfront Hall in Belfast. | Youtube/The Christian Institute

The owners of Ashers Baking Company lost the appeal against a ruling that found them guilty of discriminating a gay man when they refused to bake a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan. The decision was handed down by the Belfast's Court of Appeal on Monday.

The baking company based in Belfast declined the order from gay activist Gareth Lee, stating that the message is incompatible with the owner's religious beliefs. According to Telegraph, Lee wanted a cake that featured Sesame Street puppets Bert and Ernie with the message "Support Gay Marriage."

The cake was supposed to be served at a private function in celebration of the International Day Against Homophobia. The company was found to be in violation of the equality legislation last year.

Daniel McArthur, general manager of Ashers, argued that his reason for rejecting the order is not Lee's sexuality but the message that he wanted to put on the cake.

The original ruling ordered McArthur to pay damages of £500. A lawyer from the Northern Ireland Equality Commission, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Lee, argued that the baking company had not been forced to do anything contrary to its beliefs.

Robin Allen pointed out that many businesses have made printed messages that were not associated with them, citing election posters as an example.

Ashers owner Karen McArthur said that she knew that she could not make the cake but she took the order to avoid confrontation in the shop.

In a survey conducted by the Evangelical Alliance in September, it was revealed that a majority of evangelicals support Ashers.

The survey asked the respondents whether "a business should have the right to refuse to print, publish (or write in icing on a cake) a message with which it does not agree."

Eighty-nine percent of the respondents said that they agree while 56 percent strongly agreed. Only five percent disagreed while six percent were unsure.