The "Gay Cake" Affair (Northern Ireland concerned)

[princealbertofb]

This could be an interesting programme to listen to if you are interested in gay issues and politics. This concerns equal rights in Northern Ireland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b054ps0n

Now I'll let you find the most sumptuous gay cake picture that you can think of....

[princealbertofb]

Here's one that looks pretty tasty...

[Iceblink]

This is a battle that has been going on in the U.S. for the last couple years and so far the bakeries and photographers have been on the losing end of the court decisions. The case mentioned in the link is a little different than the ones in the U.S. The message requested for the cake in this case from Ireland was "Support Gay Marriage." I think a bakery in the U.S. would be successful in court if they argued they refused to do the cake because of the message. The reason the bakeries in the U.S. haven't won their cases is because they were refusing to do wedding cakes with the same type of messages they were willingly doing for heterosexual couples and so the refusal was based on the people requesting the cake, not the message requested. With the "Support Gay Marriage" message on the cake, the bakery would be refusing to do it no matter who asked, gay or straight, black or white, male or female, Christian or atheist and so they would win. The refusal would be equal and even without a "Conscience Clause" on the books, I think the bakery would win in the States.

[princealbertofb]

This is a battle that has been going on in the U.S. for the last couple years and so far the bakeries and photographers have been on the losing end of the court decisions. The case mentioned in the link is a little different than the ones in the U.S. The message requested for the cake in this case from Ireland was "Support Gay Marriage." I think a bakery in the U.S. would be successful in court if they argued they refused to do the cake because of the message. The reason the bakeries in the U.S. haven't won their cases is because they were refusing to do wedding cakes with the same type of messages they were willingly doing for heterosexual couples and so the refusal was based on the people requesting the cake, not the message requested. With the "Support Gay Marriage" message on the cake, the bakery would be refusing to do it no matter who asked, gay or straight, black or white, male or female, Christian or atheist and so they would win. The refusal would be equal and even without a "Conscience Clause" on the books, I think the bakery would win in the States.

That 's an interesting point you are bringing up. But they are still refusing service. Would a printer refuse to print leaflets for a party he does not endorse, though? If it was for electoral reasons?

[Iceblink]

That 's an interesting point you are bringing up. But they are still refusing service. Would a printer refuse to print leaflets for a party he does not endorse, though? If it was for electoral reasons?

In the U.S., yes the printer could refuse. You can't refuse service based on something like race, gender, religion, and in many places sexual orientation, but political affiliation is not a protected class in the U.S. It is a tricky situation because sometimes the lines are blurred. If an African American group asks a t shirt shop to make shirts that say "Black Lives Matter," and the shop refuses, is the reason because the shop owner does not agree with the political movement behind that message or is it because the shop owner does not want to serve black people?