A Belfast bakery which was at the centre of a 'gay cake' row for several years has said it will not be seeking costs against Northern Ireland's Equality Commission, which brought the case against them.
Ashers bakery - owned by Daniel McArthur and his wife Amy - was judged in 2015 to have broken the law after it was sued by the Equality Commission for refusing to make a cake iced with the slogan 'Support Gay Marriage'.
However in 2018, the UK's Supreme Court ruled they did not discriminate against a man by refusing to make the cake.
A panel of justices decided the bakers did not refuse to serve the customer because of his sexual orientation, religion or beliefs.
Gareth Lee had asked the bakery to ice a cake depicting 'Sesame Street' characters Bert and Ernie and the logo for the campaign group, Queerspace.
The cake in question that Gareth Lee asked for | File photo
In a judgement, the Supreme Court ruled: "The message was not indissociable from the sexual orientation of the customer, as support for gay marriage was not a proxy for any particular sexual orientation.
"The benefit of the message accrues not only to gay or bisexual people, but to their families and friends and to the wider community who recognise the social benefits which such commitment can bring. Thus, there was no discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in this case."
Colin Hart, the director of The Christian Institute - which backed Ashers Baking Company throughout the case - said: "Following consultation between Ashers, their lawyers and ourselves, it has been decided that Ashers will not be pursuing the legal costs of defending the case."
A member of the public walks past an Asher's Bakery shop in Belfast, Northern Ireland | Image: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
"This complex case involved significant issues of wider public interest, including balancing the requirements of discrimination law and human rights."
"The case was always going to cost money to defend.
"Even if you win you never expect to get all your costs back and you may get nothing.
"The costs orders against Ashers in the lower courts were limited to several hundred pounds in each case.
"So even if the Supreme Court were persuaded to grant costs, the award could have been similarly limited."
But he added: "Due to the generosity of Christian Institute supporters, Ashers are not out of pocket as a result of defending this legal action."
