European Court Upholds UK Ban On Anti-Gay Religious Discrimination

The European Court of Human Rights has upheld Britain's ban on religion-based anti-gay discrimination.

The Strasbourg court examined four cases brought by Christians, including two who argued their beliefs allowed them to refuse a service to same-sex couples. In the first case, Lillian Ladele was a civil registrar in London. She was dismissed because she refused officiating at civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples after it became legal in 2005. She claimed she was discriminated because of her faith.

The Court ruled there had been no discrimination, and that British courts—who upheld her dismissal—had struck the right balance between her right to freedom of religion, and same-sex couples’ right not to be discriminated. In the second case, Gary McFarlane was a counsellor providing psycho-sexual therapy to couples. He was dismissed for refusing to work with same-sex couples, arguing this was incompatible with his beliefs. The Court ruled unanimously that there had been no violation of his right to freedom of belief.

A member of the European Parliament's LGBT InterGroup reacted: "Religious freedom is no ground for exemption from the law. The court showed conclusively that the principle of equality and equal treatment cannot be circumvented with a simple reference to religion."  The BBC has much more on the LGBT ruling and several other religion-based cases. (Tipped by JMG reader Buxton)
 
UPDATE:  Look who Box Turtle Bulletin noticed among the list of third-party intervenors in the above-cited cases.