Not all members of the LGBT community enjoy watching Christians being persecuted for their religious beliefs. In fact, some of them are appalled that the government is now interfering with the faith practices of Christians and compelling them to bend to the demands of the gay community — such as bake a cake.
Neil Midgley, a self-confessed gay man, wrote for The Telegraph about the case of Christian bakers Karen and Daniel McArthur. The McArthurs' woes began when gay activist Gareth Lee ordered a cake at their Northern Irish bakery and asked that they write "Support Gay Marriage" on top of the cake.
Because of their religious beliefs, the McArthurs, who run Ashers Baking Company, turned down the "sinful" order. Lee then sued them under equality legislation. The McArthurs lost the case. When they appealed the court decision, they lost once again.
"I support equality under the law for people of all sexual and gender inclinations. More to the point, I love cake. Nonetheless, I'm siding with the Christians. This gay plaintiff is wrong; the law is wrong. Nobody should be forced by law to bake anybody else a cake. Ever," wrote Midgley.
He said the case is pretty trivial, but the democratic and political principles involved in the case aren't. Midgley said that in a properly functioning democracy, everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law. So even though gays are now allowed to marry, their choice should have no impact on their Christian neighbours.
Gays have gotten their way with their political battles and are now free to exercise their own political freedoms. But Midgley finds it ironic that many gays are now denying similar freedoms to Christians or anyone else who opposes their agenda.
"Gareth Lee, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and indeed the Labour government which enacted these anti-discrimination laws have all overlooked one very important principle: that no prevailing political consensus should ever deny a minority, even a minority of two bakers in Belfast, the right to disagree with it," he stressed.
Personally, Midgley does not want businesses to discriminate against gay people. He wishes the McArthurs would just abandon their "silly religious views" and bake cakes for everyone. But he believes freedom of religion must be respected alongside freedom of sexuality.
So as a gay man, he vehemently supports the McArthurs' right not to bake pro-gay cakes. "Because one day, the prevailing political consensus may change again. Our lawmakers may once again be tempted to turn against gay people. And on that day, I hope the Christian bakers will stand by me in my fight to protect fundamental freedoms that transcend any cake, any religion and any daft law," he said.
