Brody's Notes... British Tribunal Rules Catholic Charity Cannot Discriminate Against Gay Couples Wanting to Adopt

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) APR 26 | A British tribunal commission has ruled against the Leeds-based Catholic Care in the charity's quest to be exempted from the UK's equality laws which make it illegal to discriminate against same-sex couples who wish to adopt.

Officials with the Catholic agency warned that the organisation will be forced to end their work finding homes for children if they are forced to comply with the new equality regulations, which the charity claimed runs contrary its religious nature and beliefs. The PinkNews UK reported:

The case went to the High Court last year before being referred to the Charity Commission, who would not back Catholic Care’s position. And the Charity Commission’s stance was upheld today by a first-tier tribunal which dismissed the appeal.

Although the tribunal acknowledged that the potential loss of any children’s charity was a negative thing, the threatened closure from Catholic Care – which is not certain – had to be balanced against “the detriment to same-sex couples and the detriment to society generally of permitting the discrimination proposed.”

Responding to the news that the Charity Tribunal has unanimously ruled that Catholic Care cannot discriminate against potential same-sex adopters and continue to operate as a charity, Laura Doughty, Stonewall’s Deputy Chief Executive said:

"Stonewall applauds the decision of the Charity Tribunal to dismiss Catholic Care’s appeal. It’s clearly in the best interests of children in care to encourage as wide a pool of potential adopters as possible. There should be no question of anyone engaged in delivering any kind of public or publicly-funded service being allowed to pick and choose their service users on the basis of individual prejudice. This ruling makes the law in this area crystal clear."