Just last week, a judge ruled that the bakery owned by the McArthur family was guilty of discrimination.
The bakery had refused to carry out an order for a cake bearing a pro-gay message.
The family stated that following a consultation with their legal advisers that they “have decided to appeal the judgement handed down last Tuesday” and they still “insist that we have done nothing wrong as we have discriminated against so individual but rather acted according to what the Bible teaches regarding marriage”.
Ashers Bakery had refused to bake a cake bearing Sesame Street puppets Ernie and Bert with the message “Support Gay Marriage”. This cake was to be used in a private celebration of International Day Against Homophobia in May last year.
District Judge Isobel Brownlie agreed with the plaintiff at Belfast County Court and ruled that the bakery pay damages of £500 as well as court costs.
On Thursday the Christian Institute stated that “there has been such extraordinary support from people of all walks of life who are appalled by what has happened to the McArthur family” and said that there is a “huge public support for an appeal”