Two Christian bakers who refused to make a cake decorated with a pro-gay marriage slogan have lost their appeal against a court ruling that their stance was discriminatory.
The owners of Belfast-based Ashers declined an order placed by gay activist Gareth Lee, claiming the message was inconsistent with their deeply held religious beliefs.
Last year, they were found to have breached equality legislation following a high-profile court case in Belfast.
It was announced this morning that their appeal against the decision, heard before three senior judges at in May, was rejected.
Mr Lee, a member of the LGBT advocacy group Queer Space, requested a cake featuring Sesame Street puppets Bert and Ernie with the phrase "Support Gay Marriage" for a private function marking International Day Against Homophobia.
He paid the £36.50 cost in full at the Belfast city centre branch but was phoned two days later and told the company could not fulfil his order.
Through the legal proceedings, Daniel McArthur, the company's general manager, insisted Mr Lee's sexuality was never an issue, rather the message he wanted the bakery to create.
Mr Lee claimed the episode left him feeling like a lesser person.
In the original case, District Judge Isobel Brownlie ruled that religious beliefs could not dictate the law and ordered the firm to pay damages of £500.
Ashers, a name with Biblical connotations, has six branches, employs more than 80 people and delivers across the UK and Ireland.
Throughout the legal battle they have been supported by The Christian Institute, which has organised public rallies and garnered financial backing for the case.
In delivering the appeal judgment, Northern Ireland's Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan said Ashers had directly discriminated and rejected the argument that the bakery would be endorsing the slogan by baking the cake.
"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," he said.
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