Fruit Cake

So, have you seen the #ashersbakery #ashersverdict?

In case you weren't following, Ashers' bakery in Northern Ireland refused to ice a cake with a message in support of gay marriage because of their Christian beliefs. The Supreme Court has decided that this is illegal.

OK, let's start by ignoring my long-held belief that homophobia is anti-religious. That religions are about hope, faith, love - about positivity, inspiration and inclusion. No true religion preaches hate, discrimination or alienation.

We'll ignore all of that.

I also want to ignore my initial skepticism around the publicity of this case. I had originally thought this was a particular group of "militant homosexuals" - people targetting a known offender and wanting either to make a showpiece of them; or a name for themselves. You know the types - it's the bride-to-be who goes to the cake shop owned by the ex to make a point. I hate militant homosexuals - they have the effect of irritating, aggravating or worse inflaming the situation worse.

That wasn't the case. Gareth Lee - the man who brought the case - has not publically commented on it. At all. Over the entire period of the case. Unlike the bakers, who have made it their thing. I had presumed that he had targetted the business on the basis of their homophobia to make a point. There is also absolutely no evidence of that. I'm not aware of the specific circumstances here, but from the sounds of things he didn't target them deliberately. It could very well be that he didn't realise they were Christians; it could be that he had no choice - that there were no other bakeries that he could get to. As I say, aside from bringing the case, he has otherwise not courted any publicity.

We're doing this on pure basics.

So,under the Equality Act 2006 (which does apply to NI unlike the equal marriage laws)  it is against the law to discriminate. The are no grounds to justify discrimination. This is not about one 'right' or 'belief' outweighing the other; this is about anybody being able to buy any product or service from any supplier.

They can refuse (freedom to contract) to sell to any individual customer for any reason so long as it is non-discriminatory. You can do so for personal reasons - a fall-out with the family - or for credit reasons. However it would be illegal for me to refuse to serve someone on the grounds of a discriminatory reason - their religious or philosophical beliefs, say. And so it is illegal for someone to refuse to serve me on the grounds of my sexuality. A discriminatory reason is not personal to the individual - it has nothing to do with that person as they are - it is because that person holds a certain characteristic. If you could sell to the person if they didn't have that characteristic, that is discrimination.

Let's be clear about this - when you open up a business, when you extract revenue out of society - you comply with law. You have to comply with all laws - regardless of whether they accord with your particular views. You may have to comply with the laws on allergy disclosure despite the fact that you don't believe someone is truly allergic. You have to comply with disclosures on weights or other measures despite the fact that you don't believe people truly care. Similarly you have to comply with equality legislation.

And there is very good reason behind equality legislation. It forces equality. Sometimes you can't just rely on the good in people to do the right thing.

Take disabled people.

Under the same Equality Act as the Ashers' bakery case was brought under, it is a legal requirement to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. If this wasn't legislated for, there would be so many shops and other businesses which would be inaccessible because they didn't have a ramp where one could easily be provided; didn't have a hearing loop because it cost a few hundred quid (or not even that); didn't have a website which was reader-compatible. The Equality Act has forced people to consider these adjustments - to broaden their customer base.

But, the basics of it is the law - the law does not say that you have to prioritise one protected characteristic over another; it says that you cannot discriminate against ANY of those protected characteristics. The same bakery - despite the beliefs of its owners - would not have been able to discriminate against any other protected characteristic.

Whether that be the Asian chap who lives a few doors down the road;

Or the Catholic from the other side of the Falls Road;

Or the Republican from South of the border.

Indeed, the owners of the shop rely very much on the same Equality Act to require other people to provide them with goods or services. Regardless that their religious or philosophical beliefs are homophobic. We can't refuse to serve them on the basis their religious or philosophical beliefs are contrary to our own properly equalistic and humanistic beliefs. We can't refuse to serve them because of their Christianity.

There have been some that have said "well, why couldn't the gay's just boycott the bakery"? In the days of Blogger and Worldpress and Facebook and Twitter or Tripadvisor where a negative review can apparently spread like wildfire; could they not just do it that way? - Cripple a business by letting them know they don't accept gays?

Well no.

Not if it's your only bakery in the region. What if they are the only people in 20 miles than can bake your wedding cake for the day (in Northern Ireland this is an issue just as it is in Wales, or Cornwall, or Cumbria, or even some of the villages of the Midlands). Or what about your local shop - your only convenience store for miles - what if they decide they don't like you because you hold hands with your boyfriend (take me away from my rant about Public Displays of Affection)? What if they refuse you not because you want a gay message icing on your cake, but just because you were gay?

What if they were to refuse you just because you were a woman?

What if they were to refuse you just because you were black?

NO BLACKS NO IRISH NO GAYS. Remember those disgraceful signs in B&Bs of the 50s, 60s, 70s? Would they have disappeared without the Race Relations Act etc?

The unfortunate fact is that sometimes, without legislation we just simply can't achieve what is morally or socially correct. And the Equality Act seeks to do that. To the benefit of the Irish.

You are entitled to promote certain policies, views, etc. - take a look at the Co-Operative Bank's Ethical investment policy or any of a multitude of companies who invest strategically (indeed the Church of England did so recently by divesting some coal-based-fuel investments); but what you cannot do is do it to the discrimination of a sector of society. The distinction is that the Co-Op and others are making the choice as to who they buy their services from. The customer gets to choose where they buy from; you do not choose which group of customers you sell to; because if you remove the choice from the customer, then you may deny the customer that service absolutely - remember, yours may be the only service.

You can be Christian without being homophobic.

And if you can't; then don't set up in business where you might have to serve the general public at large.

And, they didn't have to eat the cake - only make it and then it was gone. 

And all this happened just a couple of days before the Irish Republic holds their referendum on equal marriage.