Christian UK Bakery Could Face Court Case After Refusing to Make 'Bert and Ernie' Gay Marriage Cake

Christian Post ^ | 07/08/2014 | Stoyan Zaimov

[SeekAndFind]

A Christian-run bakery in the U.K. could be facing a court case after it refused a request from a customer to make a cake featuring the "Sesame Street" characters Bert and Ernie with a slogan to "support gay marriage."

Ashers Baking Company in Belfast declined the order from the customer, a gay rights activist, but now mat face legal action from watchdog group Equality Commission, BBC News reported on Tuesday.

In a statement, the 24-year-old general manager of the Christian bakery said that the order, featuring portraits of the two puppets side by side alongside the logo of gay rights group QueerSpace, went against their religious convictions.

"The directors and myself looked at it and considered it and thought that this order was at odds with our beliefs," Daniel McArthur revealed.

"It certainly was at odds with what the Bible teaches, and on the following Monday we rang the customer to let him know that we couldn't take his

The bakery then gave a full refund to the customer, but six weeks later it received a letter from the Equality Commission, which argued that the bakery discriminated against the customer on the grounds of his sexual orientation.

Ashers then turned to The Christian Institute for legal assistance, noting that the Equality Commission's letter threatened to pursue legal proceedings.

"I feel if we don't take a stand on this here case, then how can we stand up against it, further down the line?" McArthur added, and revealed that in the past, the bakery has also turned down orders that featured pornographic images and offensive language.

[SeekAndFind]

[MeganC]

I’d have referred the gays to the muslim bakery down the street.

[DannyTN]

I’d think using the image of Bert and Earnie would be a copyright infringement. And that alone should give them a technical out.

But what I’d like to see is that the baker’s religious right of objection is upheld.

[DannyTN]

"I’d have referred the gays to the muslim bakery down the street."

LOL. That would "head off" the problem.

[Disambiguator]

I’d have referred the gays to the muslim bakery down the street.

They are certainly familiar with the Bert image.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: I’d think using the image of Bert and Earnie would be a copyright infringement. And that alone should give them a technical out.

A court victory based on mere copyright infringement does not go to the heart of the matter. It would then be a shallow victory.

[ChildOfThe60s]

I sell promotional products. Every one of the several thousand manufacturers I have access to all have disclaimers essentially stating they can refuse to do any job that has an imprint/message they deem inappropriate as well as one with copyright or trademark questions.

Point two:

Blacks operate a business, it is a “black” business
Muslims operate a business, it is a “Muslim” business
Women operate a business, it is a “women’s” business
Christians operate a business, it is a business

When the government forces Muslims to sell pork to Christians, then we can revisit Christians and gay cakes.

[Noamie]

These stories of forced slavery always amaze me.

The Left likes forced servitude.

[B4Ranch]

BUMP