Ashers Baking Company’s courageous stand for marriage has captured the public’s imagination, with record numbers seeing The Christian Institute’s social media posts on Facebook.
A video of Daniel McArthur giving glory to God led the way, helping to take Institute news and resources to more than 1.9 million people.
Hundreds of thousands of people received The Christian Institute’s posts across our social media channels, as believers reflected on a disappointing result but recognised that God remains sovereign.
Popular
Most notably, a video of Daniel McArthur giving a statement outside the court has been viewed almost 300,000 times, with a graphic highlighting the comments reaching over 121,000 people.
— Christian Institute (@christianorguk) October 24, 2016
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Free speech
Both The Guardian and The Telegraph issued editorials criticising the ruling as damaging to free speech.
It led to gay journalist Neil Midgley saying he was “siding with the Christians”, and Philip Johnston, an assistant editor for The Telegraph, writing that the ruling showed successive Governments have abandoned “freedom of expression and equality under the law”.
Sky News interviewed Daniel and Amy McArthur after the ruling, with the couple saying that God has been their rock through the difficult time.
Appeal
Ashers lost its appeal last month when judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast upheld a previous ruling that said the company had discriminated against customer Gareth Lee, for refusing to bake a cake bearing the slogan ‘Support Gay Marriage’.
The McArthur family is continuing to consult with lawyers about what options remain open to them.