A British couple opposed to homosexuality because of their Christian beliefs has lost a court battle to become foster parents. The pair went to court after a social worker was uneasy abut their fitness to be respite carers after they said they could not tell a child that a "homosexual lifestyle" was acceptable. The court rules that laws protecting people from discrimination override the right to discriminate on religious grounds. A Christian legal centre which supported the couple has predicted that the ruling will lead to a drop in the number of people applying to become foster carers. In New Zealand organised religious groups won the right to continue discriminating when Human Rights legislation otherwise outlawed discrimination from 1994. How far that right to discriminate extends has yet to be challenged in court.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 2nd March 2011 - 11:21am