Christian Lawyers Concerned over Shake-Up to Discrimination Law

The Lawyers' Christian Fellowship has urged Christians to respond to a Government consultation on the largest ever overhaul of discrimination law before the September 4 deadline.

The LCF welcomed the Government's attempts to simplify the current "complex" discrimination legislation but warned that its new proposals could see the introduction of restrictions to preach and to freedom of conscience in relation to homosexuality and transsexuality.

The main concerns with the 190-page document, said the LCF, concerned the proposal to make it illegal to harass someone on the grounds of their religion or belief, and to make it illegal to harass someone one the grounds of their sexual orientation, a measure they only recently tried to bring in through the Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs).

"This proposal would mean that although a Church is free under the SORs to gently refuse membership of the church to an unrepentant practising homosexual, that person, if they felt that they had been put in a 'humiliating environment' could sue the Church," warned the LCF.

"Similarly, a homosexual could sue a church if they heard a sermon about sexual morality that included condemnation of homosexual practices," the group added.

The Government consultation questions whether public authorities should have a duty to promote sexual orientation equality. The LCF warned that if this became a legal requirement, local authorities could take active steps to ensure that organisations did not discriminate on the basis of homosexual practices.

"The danger is that this will be taken too far and will mean that Government funding is removed from Christian projects or that support is given to projects promoting homosexuality," said the LCF.

In another part of the consultation paper, the Government is seeking views on whether churches should be able to accord different treatment to those who have had gender reassignment.

The LCF, "If the Government subsequently decided not to allow churches to do so, then a church would not be able to object to a male member of the congregation, who had a sex change (taking on the appearance of a woman), from attending a women's retreat weekend."

The LCF urged Christians to respond to the consultation with a reminder that the response of several thousand Christians to the consultation on the Sexual Orientation Regulations had forced the Government to push back the legislation by six months and re-consider many of the controversial provisions.