Court Rules Religion Can't Justify Illegal Anti-Gay Behavior

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued some interesting rulings this week on the extent of religious freedom compared to discrimination based on sexual orientation. As LGBT Think Progress reports, the ECHR has ruled against two Christians from Britain who claimed that their religious belief trumped their nation's legal protections against LGBT-based discrimination.

In one case, Lilian Ladele was a city registrar who refused to officiate civil partnership ceremonies between same-sex couples as part of her duties. In another, Gary McFarlane was a counselor for a confidential sex therapy and relationship counseling organization who refused to provide support for same-sex couples. In both cases they were removed from their positions, so both brought complaints that their religious beliefs had been violated.

The ECHR ruled against the two claims, dismissing the argument which is often raised by domestic religious extremists and heterosexual supremacists that somehow religious freedom or belief allows anti-gay discrimination banned by law in some jurisdictions in the United States.