Jim Wells, a Northern Irish Assembley member has congratulated the Christian Institute (CI) for backing the bakery which refused a ‘gay marriage’ cake order.
Jim Wells, 57, has taken to Twitter to congratulate the strongly gay apposed Institute by saying,
‘Well done to the Christian Institute for their strong backing of the family firm who refused to make a pro gay marriage cake.’
The Ashers Bakers Co. a Christian run bakers in Northern Ireland, refused an order to make a pro ‘gay marriage’ cake because it went against the owner’s beliefs. The bakery is now facing legal action from the Equalities Commission.
In response to the news that the Equalities Commission were seeking to undertake legal action, the minister tweeted,
‘Why is the Equality Commission wasting a large amount of tax payers’ money pursuing Ashers Bakery because it stands for taditional [sic] marriage?
On its website the Christian Institute, which is described as a British evangelical Christian pressure group, has said, ‘The Christian Institute is backing this case which proves the need for the law to reasonably accommodate family-run businesses with firmly held beliefs.’ and is asking members of the public to donate to help support the Ashers Baking Company and ‘others like them.’
The CI is a registered charity that has sought to retain section 28, to raise the age of consent for gay people and opposed the Civil Partnership Act and same-sex marriage act.
The CI has backed many legal actions in the past, but has been unsuccessful in many attempts, most notably the CI backed Hotel owners Mr and Mrs Ball, who infamously denied lodgings to a gay couple. Numerous attempts of appeal have all subsequently failed.
Wells has been in office since June 1998 and also believes that abortion in Northern Ireland should remain illegal, except in medical emergencies. According to Wikipedia Wells is an environmentalist and a young earth creationist, who believes the earth to be 6,000 years old.
He is currently the Deputy Chair of the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety and a member of the Committee for Justice for the Democratic Unionist Party.
