Christian registrar who refused to conduct gay weddings wins case - Telegraph

Christian registrar who refused to conduct gay weddings wins case
By Caroline Gammell
Last Updated: 2:44PM BST 10/07/2008
A Christian registrar who refused to carry out gay weddings because they were "sinful" has won a landmark discrimination battle and hailed her triumph as a victory for religious liberty.


Registrar Lillian Ladele:
Christian convictions prevented her from conducting marriage ceremonies for gay couples
Lillian Ladele, 47, can expect a large payout from Islington Council after she was bullied and threatened with the sack for asking to avoid civil partnerships because of her deeply-held religious beliefs.

When she said she could not reconcile her faith with the union of gay men and women, she was treated like a "pariah" and the council showed no respect for her rights as a Christian, the tribunal found.

The ruling that employees should not be required to act against their consciences has implications for the 18,000 same-sex ceremonies conducted nationwide each year and could encourage other registrars with strong religious beliefs to take a similar stance.

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Council officials had insisted it would send out the wrong message if Miss Ladele was exempted and her claim had outraged gay rights groups.

But the Central London Employment Tribunal upheld Miss Ladele's claims of discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of religion or beliefs.

The panel said: "Islington Council rightly considered the importance of the right of the gay community not to be discriminated against but did not consider the right of Miss Ladele as a member of a religious group.

"It decided that the service it provided was secular and that the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community must be protected.

"In so acting, Islington Council took no notice of the rights of Miss Ladele by virtue of her orthodox Christian beliefs."

The tribunal said the council's failure to take her concerns seriously and the decision to give her an ultimatum between her faith and her £31,000-a-year job was "a violation of Miss Ladele's dignity and created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment".

It also noted that the council had admitted they could provide a "first class service" without Miss Ladele carrying out civil partnership ceremonies and that she had a good work record when dealing with gay men and women.

After the ruling, Miss Ladele spoke of her relief: "I am delighted with the decision. It is a victory for religious liberty, not just for myself but for others in a similar position to mine.

"Gay rights should not be used as an excuse to bully or harass people over their religious beliefs."

Her legal fees were paid by the Christian Institute and spokesman Mike Judge said: "This is a ruling that says enough is enough.

"Just because people have got traditional beliefs on marriage does not mean they should be treated any less respectfully.

"No homosexual couple is being denied their right to marriage because other registrars are performing them.

"This was about one person having a view their colleagues didn't like and them questioning why she was still in employment. That is too hostile and offensive."

More than 600 gay couples have had same sex ceremonies in Islington since the Civil Partnership Act came into force in December 2005, making it Britain's third-most popular borough for the service.

Miss Ladele claimed she was "ridiculed" by her boss, the superintendent registrar Helen Mendez-Childs, and told her that her stance was akin to a registrar refusing to marry a black person.

Gay rights campaign group Stonewall had said Miss Ladele's opposition to civil partnerships was unjustified. A spokesman said: "Doubtless there were those 40 years ago who claimed a moral objection to mixed marriages between people of different ethnic origin."

For 15 months she swapped with colleagues to avoid the ceremonies, but formal complaints were made about her in March 2006 and she was given the ultimatum.

Miss Ladele's compensation will be considered by the tribunal in September and there is no limit to the amount a panel can award for religious discrimination.



Disgusting... not just the fact that shes homophobic but that she looks like Makosi from Big Brother whatever number she was in!
Raises the question though... which is more important...
GAY or RELIGIOUS rights?

What an old bitch, she needs a good ol' fashioned beating...

yup... and a kick in her pouch

I don't quite get what the big deal is with this?

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she was being a bigoted bitch thats what... if someone refused to marry her and husband on the grounds that they were black there would be a huge uproar about it

So, get someone else to do it? It seems like the more publicity that people like these get, the less likely the problem is to go away. Religious types do like to dig their heels in and make a fuss if they can get attention for it.

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I agree.

The States is more liberal than the UK.. but it should be of importance the fact that people and groups of the organised religions want to keep the world in the dark ages and make the world follow everything in scripture down to the tee! Its only a matter of time before Fundamentalist Christians start tryin to mess the world up

You mean they haven't already?

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well theyve been doing it for centuries granted
it makes me mad thinking that people seriously allow there religion to influence their attitudes to other people... its maddening and sickening..
oh and im mad at the government calling gay marriage "civil partnership..." sounds horribly clinical... i wont be doing it.. i think it should be called marriage...

Exactly...keep the press away from these types of people and we won't have to worry about them now will we ?

But it's so irritating though.

i wish theyd just disappear

People have as much right to hate as others do to love. It's the way of the world.
But she may not even HATE really. It says she has a history of treating gays equally, she just can't do this one thing.
All religions have rules, ideals, and such. Christianity is traditionally NOT down with homosexuality, in fact MANY world religions share this thought. Everyone knows this. It's not a NEW issue. So DON'T look to a traditionally idealed Christian to join in a gay pride parade and you'll be fine. Stick to your own sides of the fence and everyone's happy. Gays don't wanna hang wit bible thumpers anymore than the opposite is true. That hippie bullshit where we're all one happy family and meant to merge into one, is crap.
SHE HAS THE RIGHT TO PRACTICE HER FAITH! Which means there are certain things she can't morally (her own personal morality) do. It's okay. It doesn't make her a bitch. It doesn't make her worthy of being kicked in the cunt or whatever. A hard-core Muslim can't preform a gay marriage either. And their consequences are MUCH higher. She ain't about to be your best friend, but who cares?

Seriously you do realize you bitching about a fear of them taking over the world is paralleled by them. They are equally as afraid of a liberal mentality changing the world, which it HAS. Being gay has NEVER been so acceptable, flaunted, and yes- even encouraged. Not just homosexuality, but sexuality in general. Don't worry, y'all are winning. Why can't someone not be okay with homosexuality? Why can't someone not like you? As long as they aint hindering you any (which she wasn't. It ain't like anyone was turned away) You don't like them, right? You don't have to. If suddenly Jesus himself came down and said, "Okay guyz, buttsects is cool. I changed my mind." And all Christians flipped the script on that issue, would you suddenly like them?? Hell, no you wouldn't.
I don't like all the $$ movin around for such a dumb issue though.

<<So, get someone else to do it? >>

That's what I was thinking.

me (=) too lol. i just felt like rambling some shit lol

it doesn't sound like she was trying to deny anyone their legal right. she just didn't want to perform the ceremony herself. is that really so bad?

it actually seems like, by just quietly switching with other people to avoid conflict with her beliefs, she was being pretty agreeable about people's rights in general. what's the point of harassing her and threatening her job if no fewer people are allowed to get married than if she were performing ceremonies for them?

am i missing something about the story?


edit: oh also, by the way, i really thought this thread was somehow going to be about an actual cow (like moo) that was homophobic. and i was both skeptical and thrilled.

Eh? You do realise gay sex has only been legal in every single state since 2003? And I somehow doubt even over there, in the states that allow gay marriage, you can force the minister of your choice into performing the ceremony even if they don't approve?

I'm all for legal recognition but things like this prove nothing, it's not how you win people over.

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Tits. I had a really good reply to this and the board ate it. But it did point out that gay sex has only been legal in every state since 2003, and even then I doubt you can actually force a given minister who doesn't approve into performing the ceremony.

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