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| 'Gay cake' appeal: Christian bakers Ashers lose appeal | 'Gay cake' appeal: Christian bakers Ashers lose appeal |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Christian owners of a Northern Ireland bakery have lost their appeal against a ruling that their refusal to make a "gay cake" was discriminatory. | |
| Appeal court judges said that, under law, the bakers were not allowed to provide a service only to people who agreed with their religious beliefs. | |
| Two years ago, the family-run firm refused to make a cake saying: "Support Gay Marriage". | |
| It had been ordered by gay rights activist Gareth Lee. | It had been ordered by gay rights activist Gareth Lee. |
| The firm argued that the cake's message was against the bakers' religious views. | |
| In court on Monday, three judges said that it did not follow that icing a message meant you supported that message. | |
| In their ruling, they said: "The fact that a baker provides a cake for a particular team or portrays witches on a Halloween cake does not indicate any support for either." | |
| The judges also said that Ashers would not have objected to a cake carrying the message: "Support Heterosexual Marriage" or indeed "Support Marriage". | |
| "We accept that it was the use of the word 'gay' in the context of the message which prevented the order from being fulfilled," they said. | |
| "The reason that the order was cancelled was that the appellants would not provide a cake with a message supporting a right to marry for those of a particular sexual orientation. | |
| "This was a case of association with the gay and bisexual community and the protected personal characteristic was the sexual orientation of that community. | |
| "Accordingly this was direct discrimination." | |
| The appeal court upheld the original court's decision that Ashers in County Antrim discriminated against Mr Lee. | |
| At that time, District Judge Isobel Brownlie said she accepted that Ashers had "genuine and deeply held" religious views, but said the business was not above the law. | |
| The family's appeal was heard in May, but the judgement was reserved. |