On September 4th, the following letter was published and spread like wildfire around the internet. The author of the letter, Nicola Hyland, was a businesswoman who had been working in Daintree in the Wedding Hub. 

However, the owner of Daintree, Paul Barnes, decided it was against his religious beliefs to have the cake topper in the building and asked for it to be removed.

Below are both the letters, from Nicola first and the second from Paul Barnes.

Dear Editor,

I make hand crafted, personalised, clay cake toppers and I was invited by Daintree Paper on Camden St., Dublin to become part of their ‘Wedding Hub’ in May this year. The idea behind The Wedding Hub is a space where brides and grooms can visit and view the stalls of potential wedding suppliers.

One of the toppers in my stand depicts two clay grooms holding hands. After about a week of my stand being in the store I got a call from the owner saying he would like a word next time I am in. He had removed the same-sex couple topper from my stand without my permission because it was in conflict with his religious beliefs and although he is happy for people from the LGBT community to shop in his store, he is not comfortable with promoting same-sex marriage on the shelves.

This was pretty shocking to hear. I told him that what he did was not in line with my own beliefs, and indeed that I wasn’t happy with him removing stock without my consent, and that I could not in good conscience remain in The Wedding Hub if he refused to place the topper back where it was. After a lengthy conversation, during which it was pretty obvious he wasn’t going to change his mind, I left and removed my stand from the shop a couple of weeks later.

This incident has been all at once shocking, upsetting and anger-inducing. I had been of the belief that this kind of attitude was all but gone, but I was very sadly mistaken. I would like to add that in the weeks following this incident I have spoken to a number of staff members in The Wedding Hub and Daintree Paper, none of whom share the opinion of the owner.

Yours,

Nicola Hyland

The following is Mr. Barnes initial reply:

Dear Editor,

Thank you for allowing me the right to reply to Nicola’s letter. Daintree does not stock any merchandise that promotes same-sex marriage.

Daintree has a subsidiary company called The Jesse Box, which is a program for teachers and parents to pass Christian faith to children through re-enacting bible stories in a diorama.

There is an obvious conflict here that prompted the action as outlined in the letter from Nicola Hyland.

Yours sincerely

Paul Barnes, Daintree L

Mr. Barnes second reply re-instated his point:

To whom it concerns.

Over the past few days I have received many emails and messages through social media expressing a whole range of emotions at a decision I made in my business to remove a same sex cake topper from a display in my shop the Daintree Wedding Hub which is located behind Daintree paper on Camden Street in Dublin.

I would like to say that in doing this, it was in no way my intention to cause offence to anyone and I unreservedly apologise for any offence caused.

I am not homophobic, I have employed gay people in my business and I have never refused to print invitations for civil ceremonies.

I do have beliefs however, and these beliefs are formed and orientated by the Roman Catholic Church, a church of which I am a member.  I try to live by its teachings because this church has given me many, many blessings in my life, and in my family for generations.

The reason I removed the topper was that it is my opinion that it does not reflect the values I try to aspire to.  These values influence my whole life as can be seen in the Daintree building and the products we sell in our shop which respect and care for the environment.  The easy option would have been for me to ignore the topper, however in doing this I would have felt like a total hypocrite.

The mistake was mine in not making it clear to Nicola Hyland, of the Cake Topper company, and indeed the other vendors what I thought was acceptable to display in the Wedding Hub.

I respect and acknowledge the right of those who disagree with me, even those who tried to organise a boycott against the shop, I simply ask the same respect for my freedom.

I wish you all well.

Yours sincerely

Paul Barnes, Daintree Ltd.

The letters were both printed on GCN.