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Updated at 12.42 pm
A JUDGE IN Northern Ireland has handed down a decision in the row over a Christian-run bakery’s refusal to bake a ‘gay cake’.
In a verdict delivered to a packed courthouse this morning, District Judge Isobel Brownlie said it was a clear case of discrimination.
The Ashers Bakery Company had initially taken the order from a customer for a cake with a picture of Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street – with a slogan that read ’Support Gay Marriage’. The customer also asked for the logo of LGBT organisation Queer Space to be placed on the icing.
Igniting what was to become a long-running public row – Ashers said that, after consulting about the order, they decided that they would not be able to complete it, and informed the customer before refunding him.
Gareth Lee – a gay rights activist – took the civil case against the family-owned bakery, with the backing of the Northern Ireland Equality Commission.
The case was heard before a court in Belfast in March.
The ruling
The ruling was read out by the judge, in front of a packed courtroom in Belfast this morning. Former DUP health minister Edwin Poots was amongst the spectators, in the public gallery.
There was confusion earlier - after initial reports from the court that judge had already issued her ruling, and had found that it was not a case of discrimination.
However, as the judge continued to read her verdict – it became clear the opposite finding would be made. The bakery was told that it wasn’t exempt from discrimination law.
The ruling argued that discrimination would also occur in the case of a baker who refused to bake a case advocating heterosexual marriage. Judge Brownlie’s judgement read:
If the Plaintiff was a gay man who ran a bakery business and the defendants as Christians wanted him to bake a cake with the words “support heterosexual marriage” the plaintiff would be required to do so as, otherwise; he would, according to the law be discrimination against the Defendants. This is not a law which is for one belief only but is equal to and for all.
Mark Simpson / TwitterJudge accepts that Ashers bakers have "genuine & deeply held" religious views. But says they are not above the law.
— Mark Simpson (@BBCMarkSimpson) May 19, 2015
‘Hierarchy of rights’
Some unionist politicians have been supporting the bakery in the row. Three DUP MPs launched a petition last year backing them, and Peter Robinson, the first minister, described the Equality Commission’s decision to back the court bid as “bonkers”.
Speaking after the delivery of today’s verdict, DUP MLA Paul Givan said that the verdict has created a ’hierarchy of rights’ that should be addressed by politicians:
What we cannot have is a hierarchy of rights and today there’s a clear hierarchy being established that gay rights are more important than the rights of people to hold religious beliefs. And we need to now move in the Assembly to strike the right balance.
This argument was directly countered by Lee’s legal representative, Robin Allen QC, who said that no such hierarchy exists. Allen says that the bakery simply ‘broke the law’:
She (the judge) made it absolutely clear, as I was instructed to argue by the Equality Commission, that if it was a bakery run by a gay man that refused to ice a cake saying ‘support opposite sex marriage’, it would be just as unlawful as it would be in this case. That really does prove the point that there aren’t a hierarchy of rights. It’s just that they broke the law in this case.
Same-sex marriage remains illegal in Northern Ireland. It’s now the only part of the UK where gay marriage is not allowed – after England, Wales and Scotland backed the unions in 2014.
- With reporting from Rónán Duffy
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This is what happens when you rush reforms. Wait until Juniour Cycle is fully operational – then there will be chaos. Reform should have started with bringing an element of project work at Leaving Cert. Now we have students doing a Junior Cycle that ill-prepares them for Leaving Cert
@P Quinn: Ricard bruton will go down as one of the worst ministers for education ever. Teachers still don’t know how to implement the new Junior cycle and the ones training them in don’t know what they’re doing either. All to fudge the numbers to look good internationally. FG are a crowd of con artists.
The points race here is the problem not necessarily the lc or jc courses.. that’s where the pressure is coming from!
I think some small adjustments to syllabus would help but largely it’s the whole cao system that the pressure is coming from. That’s what needs looking at here
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: totally agree. I actually don’t think the wider public are aware of what changes have taken place at JC. There is now only higher and ordinary level options in English, Irish and maths. Everything else is a common level paper. It’s forcing all students towards the middle and then they have to go onto LC. Bruton was a disgrace as minister, all initiatives and bluster.
@P Quinn: 100% idiot. He’s a slithery shnake that helped and is helping suck the lifeblood out of teaching. He even looks like a chameleon.
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: I take it that you don’t like Mr Bruton? Perhaps you should use more reasoned argument to make your point rather than resorting to such a venomous attack. (No pun intended.)
@Deborah Blacoe: I’ve no problem calling him that. I’m sure many others would too. FG have a policy of draining resources from education and then coming up with hairbrain ideas to counteract this to appear we are performing well internationally. Like health, housing and most things, education is crumbling.
@Deborah Blacoe: a more reasoned argument-we have the worst investment in early education in Europe. Our class sizes are the highest in Western Europe. Less than 11% of our budget goes towards it compared to 13-16%, the European average. Pay parity has not been restored and teachers are continuing to leave for better opportunities. Less ppl are taking up teaching courses. We already have a huge skills gap and can’t fill positions in secondary and this will continue to get worse if investment isn’t increased dramatically.
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: Excellent reasoning skills! 10/10. Go to the top of the class. Sorry for that, couldn’t help myself. I hear you loud and clear. And I don’t disagree. I wonder what happens to politicians between when they start out on their political career and when they reach the dizzy heights of government? The political life appears to be the best learning ground for subterfuge and the most unwelcome forms of compromise. Mr Bruton was the first politician I voted for over 40 years ago. Both he and George Birmingham (now Justice Birmingham) were the bright lights in our constituency. I was never a ‘party’ person. My vote has always been a considered one, but I took an interest in Mr Bruton’s career. That bright star has dimmed a little. Such is life.
@Deborah Blacoe: there was no offence taken, don’t worry. Agree 100%. Politics is a cesspit that would turn the most righteous of ppl into the biggest of mé féiners. I’d be aligned with the Russell Brand strand of politics and just scrapping the whole system and starting again after the failure that was Anglo being allowed to fail in the manner that it did. I just don’t trust most ppl that go into politics so quick without getting a rounded scope and view of the world. He just comes across as a careerist politician. Coming out with the shcuther that Ireland will be the best education system in Europe in 10 years when he has no plans to invest properly and implementing a new syllabus that has been proven to have failed but he decides to push on anyway because it looks progressive. We now have children who are less prepared for the leaving cert and will be under more stress compared to those before them. I anticipate that there will be higher suicide rate among leaving certs next year. That’s why I despise the guy. It’s all about optics.
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: the biggest problems with the current education system are that 1) it is outdated and 2) it is geared for winning points. The academic subjects introduced so far back in time, when the industrial revolution was happening across Europe, are the ones which earn most credibility. This path should no longer be followed exclusively. The development of the ‘whole’ child is imperative towards maximizing skills and options. Otherwise it will be a system which will increasingly polarize goals and waste the opportunity to nurture a cross section of abilities. The level of merit awarded to academic success by society has to change. Only then can we achieve the diversity necessary in our education system in order to fuel a changing workplace.
@P Quinn: Do you want some really bad news? If the present ‘reforms’ are deemed to be ‘successful’ there is a further plan to have completely common papers for JC English, Maths and Irish. So, never mind Foundation, there will be no Higher or Ordinary any more.
It’s called ‘dumbing down’ so everyone passes. While I agree we should be encouraging our youth, it’s another example of nanny state.
Both Micky mouse exams when it comes down it
@Barry Zuckerkorn: They might be Mickey Mouse to you, but they are very important to those students that are sitting them, and cause many of them a lot of stress.
It’s mainly due to the increase in points needed for most basic courses in decent universities and colleges .
Considering the maximum amount of points you can get for an ordinary subject is 56
Taking basically everything in higher is the only option you have if you want a decent course.
@Jason Byrne: For the most part, the points required is set by the students that get offered a place. If a course has 100 places and is filled on the first round, then the student with the 100th best points score will set the points – the last student to be offered a place in round 1!
The problem is, as subject reform occurs, subjects often get easier. This allows the more able student to get more points, and points for courses go up.
In certain instances, the Universities can cap the points level for a course.
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