“London, U.K. – The owners of a Northern Ireland bakery that refused to bake a cake supporting gay marriage say they will appeal their conviction for discrimination. The Christian owners of Ashers Baking Company were convicted last week after refusing an order from gay rights activist Gareth Lee. He asked for a cake featuring Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie and the words “Support Gay Marriage.”
“Belfast judge Isobel Brownlie ruled that the bakery had discriminated against Lee on grounds of sexual orientation and political beliefs and ordered it to pay 500 pounds ($765) in damages. Members of the McArthur family, the bakery’s owners, said Thursday they would appeal. They said: “We have done nothing wrong as we have discriminated against no individual but rather acted according to what the Bible teaches regarding marriage.”
Speaking exclusively for Newslo on why they made the decision to refuse Mr. Lee’s order when they knew there would likely be legal consequences, the spokesperson for the family said: “It is one thing to be able to compromise on things you’re not okay with, but it’s completely another to go head on against your beliefs.”
The spokesperson added: “You know, the head of the family [who owns the company] told me that he was the one who made the decision and the rest of the members went along with it. He said that he would not be able to live with himself had he accepted the order. The thought of it made him think of sin and he would see it every time he closed his eyes. The man couldn’t sleep at night, so you see, there really was no other way to go about this than to say no.”
“’What kind of an example would I set for other Christians?’ he asked me. I didn’t know what to answer him,” the spokesperson concluded.
