The last slice of the long-running Ashers bakery ‘gay cake’ affair is expected to be served in Strasbourg later this week.
he European Court of Human Rights has announced that it will notify in writing two decisions on Thursday morning, one of which is Lee v. UK.
In its annex, the court specifies that “Gareth Lee is a British national who was born in 1969 and lives in Belfast (United Kingdom). He is associated with QueerSpace, an organization for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Northern Ireland.
“The case concerns the refusal of a Christian-run bakery to sell a cake with the words ‘Support Gay Marriage’ and the QueerSpace logo that Mr. Lee commissioned and the legal proceedings that followed.”
The document goes on to state that “the applicant complains of an infringement of his rights by a public authority – the Supreme Court – by its decision to reject his complaint for breach of the legal obligation to provide services, and that the interference was not proportionate ”.
Mr Lee had attempted to order the cake in Belfast in 2014 but was turned down as the request contradicted the beliefs of the family bakery, which is owned by Christians.
Mr. Lee sued on the grounds that he had been discriminated against because of his sexual orientation and political beliefs.
He won his case first in County Court and then in the Court of Appeal for Northern Ireland.
However, Ashers insisted it was the cake message, not the customer, that he objected to.
After lengthy court proceedings, Ashers ultimately won an appeal to the UK’s highest court, where the company’s actions were found to be non-discriminatory by five Supreme Court justices.
The case was then referred to the ECHR, where it was argued that the Supreme Court “had not given proper weight” to him under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The current case differs from the previous ones in that it is directed against the United Kingdom, as a member state of the European Court, and not against the owners of Asher, Daniel and Amy McArthur.
