A gay pride flag flying outside the Northern Ireland Office in Stormont; the NIO is now drawing up guidelines to protect clergy from being forced to do gay weddings – but they plan to offer no protection to businesses The church (which is the largest Protestant denomination on the island of Ireland with an estimated 198,000 adherents), also said the current plans from the Northern Ireland Office are in conflict with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – and that a new law may be needed to protect people of faith. It comes after the News Letter revealed key clauses in the planned regulations surrounding gay marriage. According to paragraph 50, whilst religious officiants will not be coerced into taking gay weddings, this “will not apply to service providers that are not religious bodies, such as hoteliers, wedding photographers and florists”. Ashers bakery owners Daniel and Amy McArthur outside the Supreme Court in London in October 2018, where five justices unanimously ruled that the Christian owners did not discriminate against gay rights activist Gareth Lee on the ground of sexual orientation by refusing to bake a cake that said ‘support gay marriage’ And when it comes to civil […]
