The Ashers Baking Company case was heard from 9–12 May. The Lord Chief Justice cited the Irish referendum as a reminder that not everyone who supports gay marriage is gay, as the McArthur’s reiterated that their concern was with promoting a message on a cake, not the unknown orientation of the customer.
David Scoffield QC told judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast that discrimination must be against ‘another person’, not an idea or an object (like a cake).
Scoffield told the court. ‘If a heterosexual person had asked for the same message on the cake they would have had the same response.’