“The UK Supreme Court engaged at length with the human rights arguments in this case and upheld the McArthurs’ rights to freedom of expression and religion,” Calvert said. On Jan. 6, the ECHR determined that Lee’s case was inadmissible because he had “failed to exhaust domestic remedies.” (photo: Sara Valenti / Shutterstock) The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a case brought by a Northern Irish gay rights activist, who claims a bakery discriminated against him by refusing to create a cake with a message supporting gay marriage, as inadmissable. Gareth Lee ordered a cake in May 2014 from Ashers Bakery located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He requested the cake bear the message “support gay marriage,” a message to which the owners, the McArthurs, objected on account of their Christian faith. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom had reached a unanimous verdict in favor of the McArthurs in 2018, after a lower court had ruled against the bakers. Lee had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, bringing a new case against the UK government. On Jan. 6, the ECHR determined that Lee’s case was inadmissible because he had “failed to exhaust domestic remedies.” The […]
