A gay priest who was defrocked for marrying another man has now claimed that there is a "need for revolution" in the Church of England after his discrimination claim was dismissed by the U.K.'s Court of Appeal.
Canon Jeremy Pemberton, who served as a priest for more than 30 years, had accused the Church of England of breaching the 2010 Equality Act after his permission to officiate was revoked when he married his same-sex partner Laurence Cunnington in April 2014.
In addition to the cancellation of his license, he also lost a job offer to work as a bereavement manager at the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust.
Pemberton filed a case at an employment tribunal against acting Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, claiming that he suffered discrimination because of his homosexuality. The bishop, however, contended that it was Pemberton's same-sex marriage that went against the church's beliefs and rules.
His claims of discrimination and harassment were dismissed, and that decision was originally upheld by an official employment appeal tribunal in 2016.
His lawyers appealed and argued at London's Court of Appeal that the tribunal decisions should be overturned, but last week, Lord Justice Underhill and two other judges ruled that the bishop's actions were lawful under the Equality Act.
The judge acknowledged that the Church's stance on same-sex marriage was "profoundly upsetting" for Pemberton, but he explained that it was "not reasonable for him to regard his dignity as violated" by the Church applying its "sincerely-held beliefs in a way permitted by the law."
"If you belong to an institution with known, and lawful, rules, it implies no violation of dignity, and it is not cause for reasonable offence, that those rules should be applied to you – however wrong you may believe them to be. Not all opposition of interests is hostile or offensive," the judge said in his ruling.
The judge further noted that the Church had clearly set out its opposition to same-sex marriage in its doctrines, and it therefore did not need to make an "express provision" to ban priests from entering such unions.
In a statement after the ruling, Pemberton said that he was grateful for the court's expertise but he was "naturally disappointed" by the ruling.
Pemberton expressed hope that he will be permitted to return to active ministry in the future, and said that he had agreed with the Church that he will not pursue the case any further.
