Bakery refuses to make "gay cake"; faces legal action

What do people think of this story?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-28206581

A Christian-run bakery that refused a customer's request to make a cake with a slogan supporting gay marriage rights could face legal action..."The directors and myself looked at it and considered it and thought that this order was at odds with our beliefs.

"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 order."...

approximately six weeks later we received a letter from the Equality Commission. The Equality Commission's letter said that we had discriminated against the customer on the grounds of his sexual orientation.

"It asked us to propose how we would recompense the customer for this discrimination. It also said it would pursue legal proceedings if we didn't respond

My two cents. As much as I support gay marriage and the equality act, I think the bakery is not guilty as it stands. I don't see that they've discriminated against the customer because of his or her sexual orientation, but because of the political cause. They could reasonably be assumed to refuse were the customer straight (indeed did they even know the customer's sexuality?).

What if the bakery were asked to make a cake for other political or moral stances. "Vote BNP" or "gays burn in hell" or something? I think they should be allowed to refuse to make cakes they don't like as long as they don't discriminate against their customers.

Reply 1

Radicalathiest

5

Good

the sooner people learn you can't deny someone goods and services because of their sexuality (or in this case your objections to their sexuality) the better

'I think they should be allowed to refuse to make cakes they don't like as long as they don't discriminate against their customers.'

How would that work in practice as refusing someone because you don't like something about them is discriminatory

Reply 2

thesabbath

2

Original post by Radicalathiest

Good

the sooner people learn you can't deny someone goods and services because of their sexuality (or in this case your objections to their sexuality) the better

'I think they should be allowed to refuse to make cakes they don't like as long as they don't discriminate against their customers.'

How would that work in practice as refusing someone because you don't like something about them is discriminatory

You want Government-mandated slavery, in other words?

If homosexual lobbyists cannot separate their homosexual politics from their "sexuality" then that is their problem. No one should be forced by law to produce propaganda for a cause with which they do not agree.

Reply 3

Gjaykay

11

The homophobia aside, they should be able to choose what cakes to make themselves.
They are a business, and can (and should) refuse service to who ever the damn well please.

They've chosen to be homophobic, so hopefully people will stop buying cakes from there, but they have every right to be homophobes and refuse to bake whatever they want for a customer.

Reply 4

Radicalathiest

5

Original post by thesabbath

You want Government-mandated slavery, in other words?

If homosexual lobbyists cannot separate their homosexual politics from their "sexuality" then that is their problem. No one should be forced by law to produce propaganda for a cause with which they do not agree.

No I want equality

I want a world where people aren't discriminated against because they are gay or bisexual or black or asian or white

If it takes the law to achieve this because of a few bigoted faith heads then so be it

But 'propaganda' it was a wedding cake FFS

But is see from your user name you are a faith head so I'll ask you WWJD?

Reply 5

letsbehonest

15

They don't have to make the cake if they don't want to. Why don't they just go to a different bakery?

Reply 6

Radicalathiest

5

Original post by Gjaykay

They are a business, and can (and should) refuse service to who ever the damn well please.

no-colored-allowed-black-americana-cast-iron-sign-10x4_220665307171.jpg92.8KB

Reply 7

Radicalathiest

5

Original post by letsbehonest

They don't have to make the cake if they don't want to. Why don't they just go to a different bakery?

But they do

If I were you I'd spend some time looking into the sale of goods act and the Equality act 2000

but there is a good resource

http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_home/discrimination_in_goods_and_services/default.asp

Reply 8

goldenfish

15

The bakery is a private business, they should have the right to choose who they decide to make business with.

Reply 9

Everglow

19

"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 order."...

The Bible also teaches agapeic love, but I don't see them practicing that. Even with apparently anti-homosexual references like those of Leviticus and Samuel, the Bible is subjective and I think it is flawed for them to objectively claim that the Bible definitely condemns homosexuality.

With that said, I don't think this was discrimination based on the sexuality of the customer. It appears to me that it was the nature of the order that was disputed. Had the cake had no pro-homosexual reference on it, I don't think their order would have been rejected.

Original post by thesabbath

You want Government-mandated slavery, in other words?

If homosexual lobbyists cannot separate their homosexual politics from their "sexuality" then that is their problem. No one should be forced by law to produce propaganda for a cause with which they do not agree.

Propaganda? Where is the propaganda?

Reply 10

thesabbath

2

Original post by Radicalathiest

If the public supports your communist utopia then they will boycott these nasty businesses and go to the ones with rainbow flags in the window won't they?

Reply 11

Radicalathiest

5

Original post by thesabbath

If the public supports your communist utopia then they will boycott these nasty businesses and go to the ones with rainbow flags in the window won't they?

No we will simple close the ones that are willing to discriminate against people because of race and gender and it's cases like this along with the B&B ones that will force the issue

But funny how you call the demands for equity a 'communist utopia :biggrin:

I take it equity for you is a dirty word :rolleyes:

Reply 12

fortunesfool

9

Original post by Radicalathiest

This^. How is refusing custom from somebody based on something that they can't help really any different?

Reply 13

Bill_Gates

21

Christians need to get with the times brah

Reply 14

Radicalathiest

5

Original post by goldenfish

The bakery is a private business, they should have the right to choose who they decide to make business with.

They have to comply with the sales of goods act and the equity act 2000

So no they do not have the right to discriminate because of someones sexuality, quite the opposite in fact.

http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_home/discrimination_in_goods_and_services/default.asp

Reply 15

Radicalathiest

5

Original post by fortunesfool

This^. How is refusing custom from somebody based on something that they can't help really any different?

It's not

when faced with the reality of what some are saying though they soon back down

Reply 16

thesabbath

2

Original post by Radicalathiest

No I want equality

I want a world where people aren't discriminated against because they are gay or bisexual or black or asian or white

If it takes the law to achieve this because of a few bigoted faith heads then so be it

But 'propaganda' it was a wedding cake FFS

But is see from your user name you are a faith head so I'll ask you WWJD?

It is a "wedding cake", which has "support gay marriage" emblazoned on it. How can you even dare to claim it is not propaganda?

The world you propose sounds like hell on earth if you're using the force of the State to "achieve" it (in reality you'd be sending millions upon millions of thought criminals to gulags for re-education because they don't share your worldview, after first using cases like this as a "chilling effect" to silence people).

By the way, you mention blacks and asians sharing your utopia and guess what? They happen to be far more homophobic than the white indigenous population.

Reply 17

Everglow

19

Original post by Radicalathiest

They have to comply with the sales of goods act and the equity act 2000

So no they do not have the right to discriminate because of someones sexuality, quite the opposite in fact.

http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_home/discrimination_in_goods_and_services/default.asp

I don't think the rejection of service was necessarily based on the customer's sexuality, though. I think that it was the nature of the service requested that was rejected. Had the customer, who may or may not have been gay, ordered something more generic like a birthday cake, I don't think they would have been turned away.

Reply 18

tengentoppa

18

What a joke. it's not that they refused to make a cake for gay people. It's that they refused to endorse a political lobby. It goes against their beliefs, and it could have resulted in a backlash from their community. People keep bringing up what would happen if this was a black person being refused but again, the bakery would be perfectly entitled to refuse to make a cake endorsing the NAACP.

Secondly, why doesn't the customer just get that specific cake from another bakery? It sounds to me like they're just kicking up a fuss for the sake of it.