Landmark Ruling: Human Right Court Rules Religious Beliefs Do Not Trump LGBT Rights

As this blog endeavors to expose - along with their hypocrisy - the Christofascists consistently insist that they are entitled to special rights that trump the rights of all other citizens.  They think that if they wrap themselves in the disingenuous cloak of "deeply held religious belief" they are magically excused from observing the law.  Its a theme Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli recently cited  when he stated that those who oppose the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act should violate the law and go to jail if need be.  Yes, it is ALL about special rights for the Bible beaters.  But the phenomenon is not unique to American Christofascists.  In the United Kingdom some Christofascists have sought to justify their refusal to obey the law and/or perform work responsibilities on the basis of "Christian belief."  That bogus claim just took a major hit when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that an individual’s religious beliefs do not trump the rights of an LGBT person and may not be used to discriminate against them.  Expect loud shrieks, convulsions and sheets of spray spittle from the Christofascists.  The New Civil Rights Movement looks at this landmark ruling.  Here are highlights:

In an historic, landmark decision the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that an individual’s religious beliefs do not trump the rights of an LGBT person and may not be used to discriminate against them. The Court, in Strasbourg, France, examined four cases brought by Christians from the UK, two of which related to their refusal to provide professional services to same-sex couples on the grounds it violated their religious beliefs.

“In the first case, Lillian Ladele was a civil registrar n 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 European Parliament’s
Intergroup on LGBT Rights stated in a blog post:

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. 

In many states, GOP legislatures are creating laws that extend past religious institutions and to individuals, enshrining this type of discrimination in their laws, unfairly making discrimination legal.  Hopefully, the ACLU and other civil rights and LGBT right organizations will see this ruling as a model for which to strive as they battle enshrined legal anti-gay discrimination.