STRASBOURG, France (CN) — In 2014, Gareth Lee ordered a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan from a Belfast bakery, but the owners refused to make it. Eight years later, the European Court of Human Rights found his claim of discrimination was inadmissible.
The Strasbourg-based court ruled on Thursday that Lee's case was doomed by its reliance on Northern Ireland’s anti-discrimination law, as opposed to the 1953 convention that created the rights court. To rule, the ECHR found, would usurp the national courts' authority.
Created in 1959 by the European Convention of Human Rights, the ECHR is a court of last resort. Anyone bringing claims before it must first exhaust their national legal avenues.
It’s unclear if Lee intends to pursue further legal actions. “None of us should be expected to have to figure out the beliefs of a company's owners before going into their shop or paying for their services,” he told reporters after the ruling was announced.
Lee ordered the 36.50 pound ($49) cake from Ashers Baking Company, owned by Daniel and Amy McArthur, for an event celebrating International Day Against Homophobia. The bakery advertised that it would print images in edible ink and Lee submitted a design featuring Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie and the slogan “Support Gay Marriage.” Though the order was initially accepted and paid for, two days later, the bakery contacted Lee and told him they would be unable to make his cake because they disagreed with the message.
He complained to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, which ultimately fined the bakery 500 pounds ($598). The couple appealed, arguing they were opposed to the message on the cake, not Lee’s sexual orientation. In 2019, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom sided with the McArthurs, ruling that they couldn’t be forced to promote a message that was against their religious beliefs.
The case drew major media attention in the U.K., with celebrities like Patrick Stewart weighing in. As the McArthurs and Lee's case was being litigated, U.S. courts were focused on a 2012 incident in which a gay couple attempted to order a wedding cake from a Colorado bakery but were denied because of the owner’s religious beliefs. The couple complained to the state’s Civil Rights Commission, which fined Masterpiece Cakeshop for discrimination. The baker eventually prevailed before the Supreme Court.
“This is good news for free speech, good news for Christians, and good news for the McArthurs,” Simon Calvert of The Christian Institute, a U.K organization that promotes a fundamentalist Christian viewpoint. His organization supported the couple’s legal challenge.
At the time Lee ordered the cake, gay marriage was illegal in Northern Ireland, though civil partnerships have been available to gay couples since they were introduced in 2005. The Northern Ireland Assembly finally passed legislation allowing gay couples to get married in 2020.
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