Christian printer Nick Williamson explains why he is standing up to the bullies who are trying to force him to print a gay magazine.
Mr Williamson, 28, from Portadown in Northern Ireland, could be hauled off to court for refusing to print the material.
He says the website of MyGayZine contained explicit images, and he wasn’t prepared to print that kind of material whether homosexual or heterosexual.
And he has vowed to stand up to the bullies who think they can use equality laws to push Christians around.
Faith
Last month it emerged that Mr Williamson was asked to provide a cost estimate for printing MyGayZine, timed to coincide with a gay rights march in Belfast.
But in an email to the magazine’s editor, Danny Toner, Mr Williamson said he did “not feel comfortable” taking the job on because it “would be in contradiction to my own faith”.
Mr Williamson had explained: “Unfortunately due to the nature of the magazine we are unable to give a quote.”
Court
But Mr Toner said he was “shocked” and “annoyed” at Mr Williamson’s comments, and said: “If we can take the printer to court, we will”.
The case has been referred to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
In 2000, a Christian printer in Canada, Scott Brockie, lost his appeal against the Ontario Human Rights Commission to be allowed to refuse to print stationery for a homosexual business.
However, in that case it was decided that Mr Brockie or his business would not be required “to print material of a nature that could reasonably be considered to be in direct conflict with the core elements of his religious beliefs or creed.”