Colm Fitzpatrick
A Christian business which refused to print civil partnership ceremony invitations to a gay man has said other groups have been targeting the business because of their decision.
Drogheda-based company Beulah Print and Design were ordered to pay €2,500 after the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found it had discriminated against a man on the grounds of sexual orientation when refusing to print the invites.
Beliefs
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, a spokesperson for Beulah Print said: “We didn’t discriminate against the man, just that we would not print the wedding invitations because of our beliefs.”
In a statement, the company said that it rejected the findings of the WRC and simply acted in light of their conscience, adding that designing and printing invitations to such events would be lending approval and promotion of the content.
“If the State dictates what a person may or may not believe and demands conformity in matters of personal moral choices, we are travelling the road of intolerance towards totalitarianism,” the statement reads.
Following the outcome, Beulah told this newspaper that the business has been targeted by others who have an “axe to grind”.
“We weren’t targeted by the customer relating to the particular complaint. He seemed to approach us in good faith, however once we were up on radar, we did become the target of others who had an axe to grind as it were,” the business said.