inews: Gay weddings' tribunal | A CLIMATE of fear is growing among Christian Town Hall staff awaiting the outcome of a landmark legal case.

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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 30 May 2008

Lillian Ladele

Islington news | Gay Weddings | Christian staff | Lillian Ladele | Town Hall | Civil Partnership | Bible | Marriages

Christian staff await result of ‘gay weddings’ tribunal

A CLIMATE of fear is growing among Christian Town Hall staff awaiting the outcome of a landmark legal case.
Registrar Lilian Ladele took Islington Council to an employment tribunal last week, claiming she had been discriminated against for following the teachings of the Bible by refusing to conduct civil partnership ceremonies formally acknowledging “gay marriages”.
She faced an internal hearing in September last year and was disciplined for gross misconduct.
Ms Ladele is seeking damages, claiming she was harassed in her workplace, and compensation for loss of earnings after her bosses prevented her conducting marriage ceremonies.
The Christian Institute, the lobby group bankrolling her legal challenge from its Newcastle headquarters, says the high-profile case is being followed by staff in a similar position throughout the country. Institute spokesman Mike Judge said: “We have had dozens of people calling since Friday, saying they are in the same position as Lillian. Many have simply resigned but increasingly they are wanting to challenge the idea that you cannot hold certain religious views and work for the council.”
He said Christian lay registrars were “terrified” that the ”homosexualist agenda” could force them to either give up their jobs or violate their religious beliefs.
Ms Ladele, who lives in Skinner Street, Finsbury, told a tribunal last week that because of her religious views she should not be forced to conduct civil partnership ceremonies.
The 47-year-old registrar believes all gays are “sinners”, and has claimed that being told to perform civil partnerships ceremonies – formally acknowledging same-sex unions since new laws were passed in 2005 – was like force-feeding a Muslim “unclean” meat.
She continues to work for the council, registering births and deaths and carrying out administrative duties.
A panel of three who heard the Central London employment tribunal case will make their decision known in June.
Mr Judge said: “I certainly think Christians need to look for some kind of compromise. But we must remember that other occupations allow conscientious objections. Teachers are excused from religious assemblies and Catholics do not have to carry out abortions.
“I don’t think that Lillian should be facing the sack just because she has that one particular point of view. And that’s what is at issue here. She is being disciplined and threatened with the sack because she’s a Christian.”
The Christian Institute lobbies for the promotion of God’s law over the law of the land. It originally called for an opt-out clause in the Civil Partnerships Act of 2005 to cover staff with religious objections to conducting ceremonies. The move was accepted by the House of Lords but rejected by the House of Commons.
The Institute, which has been operating for more than 20 years, is considering legal action against a refusal by internet search engine Google to host its anti-abortion advert.
The Institute wanted a link to its web page to appear whenever the word “abortion” was typed into the search engine. The link would have mentioned: “UK abortion law – news and views on abortion from the Christian Institute.” But Google refused the request as it has a policy of barring links with websites which mix topics such as abortion with religious views.

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