Ashers result ‘risks all our freedom of speech’, cautions barrister
from The Christian Institute:
Ashers’ defeat at the Court of Appeal risks restricting everyone’s freedom of conscience and speech, a barrister has warned.
Ashers Baking Company was told last month that it had broken the law by declining to decorate a cake with a pro-gay marriage campaign slogan for LGBT activist Gareth Lee.
Writing for the UK Human Rights Blog, Alasdair Henderson backed comments from newspapers and homosexual rights campaigner Peter Tatchell criticising the ruling.
Gracious
The London-based barrister highlighted that the McArthur family, who run Ashers, did not object to the customer, but to the message on the cake.
Discrimination law is supposed to be about protecting people, not ideas or words.
Alasdair Henderson
He noted that the family had “sold baked goods to Mr Lee in the past and (rather graciously, given that he has sued them) made it clear they would be happy to serve him in the future”.
However, the court still ruled against the company – upholding an earlier decision from May 2015.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
