An editor is seeking legal advice after a printing firm refused to publish his magazine as it is aimed at the gay market.Danny Toner, the founder and editor of MyGayZine, an online magazine for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Northern Ireland, was hoping to produce the first print edition in June, to coincide with Belfast Pride.
But after approaching a local printer for a quote he was "hurt and embarrassed" to receive an email refusing to work with the magazine because of its readership.
"There are some types of work I do not feel comfortable taking on and this is definitely one them," wrote printer Nick Williamson from Blufire Media in County Armagh, who had advertised his services on Gumtree.
"To work alongside (even printing for) the LGBT [community] would be in contradiction to my own faith and so I will have to let this quote slide."
Initially, Williamson, a former director of a local Christian bookshop, had replied: "Unfortunately due to the nature of the magazine we are unable to give a quote."
After Toner asked for clarification, the printer specified the reason.
MyGayZine.co.uk does not contain any adult content.
Recent issues carry features about homophobia, gay life, travel and culture, as well as crosswords and recipes for carrot and ginger soup.
"This is my seventh month producing the magazine," Toner told the Guardian. "I started it up as a home project and it's grown and grown. So after a couple of months building up enough capital, I started looking into getting it printed. We'd been advised not to go to local printers but to opt for foreign ones because it'd be cheaper, but we were against the idea – we wanted to stick with local people. Once he [Williamson] came back and was open about the reasons for refusing, I was shocked about how blatant he was. I felt hurt and annoyed and confused. Why? How could anybody refuse a service just for that one reason? It was embarrassing too – it's shaming."
Refusing to offer goods or services on the grounds of sexual orientation contravenes the Equality Act 2010, the same legislation used last year to successfully sue Susanne Wilkinson, the owner of a bed and breakfast, who refused a room to gay couple Michael Black and John Morgan.
Toner has forwarded the emails to the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland and has approached a solicitor who specialises in LGBT rights.
"If we can take the printer to court, we will," he said. "Part of the reason we started this magazine in the first place was in order to fight homophobia and to bring it to people's attention. Things have improved for gay people in Northern Ireland in the last five or six years but there's still a long way to go."
Williamson said he did not wish to comment.