A Christian couple from Belfast, Northern Ireland who were found guilty of discrimination for refusing to make a gay-themed cake are asking a court to overturn the ruling, saying complying with the cake order would have violated their conscience.
The McArthur family, owner of the Ashers Baking Company in Belfast, seeks to overturn a court ruling last year over the case filed by LGBT activist Gareth Lee in 2014, according to The Irish Times.
"They could not in conscience provide a product with a message that was inconsistent with their deeply held religious beliefs in circumstances where the evidence was clear that they believed that to do so would be sinful," said Barrister David Scoffield QC.
Scoffield said the case was not about refusing to sell a cake but a refusal to sell a particular cake.
Lee, a member of the LGBT group Queer Space, ordered a cake featuring Sesame Street puppets Bert and Ernie with the phrase "Support Gay Marriage" for a private event to mark the International Day Against Homophobia.
He paid £36.50, or about $52 at Ashers' Belfast city centre branch. However, two days later he received a phone call from the company saying it could not make the cake.
Owner Karen McArthur, a born-again Christian, said in her heart, she knew she could not make the cake but accepted the order to avoid any confrontation.
Daniel McArthur said his family could not compromise their religious beliefs.
District Judge Isobel Brownlie ruled that the bakers violated the equality law and discriminated against Lee and ordered them to pay £500, or about $720, to Lee for damages.
Scoffield told the appeals court that the important questions was why the order was not fulfilled.
He said the case raises the issue of principle and to which extent those who have deep religious convictions can be required by law to act in a manner inconsistent with their beliefs.
"It makes it extremely difficult for any business such as a printer or someone who, as we have seen in this case, creates T-shirts or creates cakes, to run any kind of bespoke service if faced with the position that someone could come through your door and order something which is clearly objectionable," he said.
