An evangelical Christian couple from the U.K., who were fined in 2015 for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding, have insisted that they do not hate gay people, and said that they refused to make the cake “out of love for God.”
The Christian Institute, which represents Daniel and Amy McArthur, said that the couple remain firm in their beliefs despite their Ashers Baking Company being found guilty in May 2015 of discrimination for refusing to make a cake featuring the “Sesame Street” characters Bert and Ernie with a pro same-sex marriage slogan, that was to be used for a gay wedding.
It was clear we did not hate anyone. We didn’t want to discriminate against anyone. We did what we did because of our Christian beliefs. It’s done out of love for God, to obey Him,” Daniel McArthur said in a video.
The couple was fined U.S. $775 at Belfast County Court for the refusal, however, with District Judge Isobel Brownlie arguing that U.K. law dictated that for-profit businesses must serve everyone.
“The defendants are not a religious organization. They conduct a business for profit. I believe the defendants did have the knowledge that the plaintiff was gay,” Brownlie said at the time.
“As much as I acknowledge their religious beliefs this is a business to provide service to all. The law says they must do that.”
McArthur recently criticized the Equality Commission that went after them, calling it “very one-sided.”
“They wanted to pursue it with everything they had,” he continued. “They wanted to take us to court, maybe teach us a lesson or send out a signal. The signal they were trying to send out was: If you’re a Christian don’t bring it into work.”
