The ‘gay cake’ saga continues. The Northern Irish Court of Appeal has refused a request to appeal to the Supreme Court. However, the bakery owners have confirmed they will go directly to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal.
To recap, in May 2014, to celebrate Anti-Homophobia week and the growing support for same sex marriage in Northern Ireland, Mr Lee ordered a cake from Ashers’ Bakery with the slogan “Support Gay Marriage.” Ashers’ Bakery is owned by a Christian couple who believed that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Because of this, they said they were unable to make the cake.
For Mr Lee, this really took the biscuit. Mr Lee brought a discrimination claim which he won in the Northern Ireland County Court (see a plain English summary here). The bakery owners appealed and lost in the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal (see a plain English summary here).
This dispute has not been left half baked. The bakery owners then asked the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal for permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court. This was denied last week.
They may have one last bite though. They can go directly to the UK Supreme Court for permission to appeal. It is now confirmed that this is what they are going to try and do.
