No comment from me, but here’s the Belfast Telegraph article..
Daniel McArthur (24), general manager at Asher’s Baking Company, the Newtownabbey company which has been running since 1992 and employs 62 people, said the firm had been founded by Christians, and the current directors are Christians.
“That means that we run our business according to Christian values and beliefs, according to what the Bible teaches. It means for example that we don’t open on Sundays, that we trade openly and honestly with people,” he said.
Mr McArthur said the company’s name was Biblical – as Asher was one of the 12 tribes of Israel. “It was a tribe that had gifted bakers,” he said.
LGBT activist Gareth Lee had asked for the cake to include a slogan that said ‘support gay marriage’ along with a picture of Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street, and the logo of the Queerspace organisation.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where gay marriage has not been legalised.
It will be really interesting to see which way this goes. If the court finds against the bakery it opens a whole range of interesting questions about how far customers can go in demanding specific products.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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