Lee v Ashers Baking Company Ltd and others

Lee v Ashers Baking Company Ltd and others
CourtSupreme Court of the United Kingdom
Full case name Lee v Ashers Baking Company Ltd and others
Decided2018
Neutral citation[2018] UKSC 49
Holding
People cannot be forced to promote a belief they profoundly disagree with
Case opinions
MajorityLord Mance (Lady Hale of Richmond, Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore, Lord Hodge and Lady Black of Derwent concurred)
Area of law
discrimination, compelled speech

Lee v Ashers Baking Company Ltd and others [2018] UKSC 49 was a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom discrimination case between Gareth Lee and Ashers Baking Company, owned by Daniel and Amy McArthur of Northern Ireland. Lee brought the case after Ashers refused to make a cake with a message promoting same-sex marriage, citing their religious beliefs.[1] Following appeals, the Supreme Court overturned previous rulings in favour of Lee and made a judgement in favour of Ashers. The court said there was no discrimination against Lee and that Ashers' objections were with the message they were being asked to promote.[2] The court held that people in the United Kingdom could not legally be forced to promote a message they fundamentally disagreed with.[3] The case became known in the British and Irish media as the "gay cake" case.[1][4]

  1. ^ a b "Ashers 'gay cake' row: Bakers win Supreme Court appeal". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Lee (Respondent) v Ashers Baking Company Ltd and others (Appellants) (Northern Ireland) and two references by the AG for NI of devolution issues to the Supreme Court pursuant to paragraph 34 of Schedule 10 to the NI Act 1998" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference bt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "ECHR rule Belfast bakery "gay cake" case application inadmissible". RTÉ News. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.