Lillian Ladele, a Christian registrar who was pushed out of her job because of her conscientious beliefs about civil partnerships, is taking her case to the next level of the European Court of Human Rights.
In January she lost her case at the court with five judges rejecting her claim. But two judges believed she suffered discrimination because of her Christian beliefs about marriage.
Now she is appealing the decision, by calling on the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights to consider her case.
Left out
The Christian Institute’s Legal Defence Fund is financially backing Miss Ladele’s legal appeal.
Following her defeat earlier this year, The Christian Institute’s Mike Judge warned: “What this case shows is that Christians with traditional beliefs about marriage are at risk of being left out in the cold.
“If the Government steamrollers ahead with its plans to redefine marriage, then hundreds of thousands of people could be thrown out of their jobs unless they agree to endorse gay marriage.”
In 2003 Lillian Ladele told her managers at Islington Council that, should civil partnerships ever become law, she would have a conflict of conscience based upon her Christian beliefs about marriage.
Reasonable
Following the introduction of civil partnerships, Miss Ladele wrote to her employer in 2006 asking for a reasonable accommodation of her religious objection to same-sex civil partnerships.
Islington accepted that it had enough registrars to provide a civil partnership service to the public without requiring Miss Ladele’s involvement.
But managers at the council refused her request, and demanded that she carry out civil partnership registrations against her will.
Two other Christians, Shirley Chaplin and Gary McFarlane, are also appealing the rulings against them.