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Registrar Lillian Ladele: ‘Sin takes many forms’ |
Gay weddings are against God’s law, registrar insists
Colleagues complained beliefs were homophobic
A CHRISTIAN registrar has claimed that new laws making her conduct civil partnership ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples are like force-feeding a Muslim “unclean” food.
Lillian Ladele took Islington Council to a Central London employment tribunal this week, claiming she had been discriminated against for following “God’s law”.
Ms Ladele, who lives in Skinner Street, Finsbury, has registered births, deaths and marriages at the town hall for 16 years.
But when the Civil Partnerships Act 2005, formally recognising same-sex unions, came into force she refused to conduct the ceremonies and was disciplined for gross misconduct.
She told the tribunal on Monday: “I sincerely believe that civil partnerships are contrary to God’s law. The Bible explains that when we sin, when we are disobedient to God, there is a price to pay. Sin can take many forms – pride, dishonesty and gossip – and it also covers our sex lives.
“I cannot condone something I see as sinful. It is like a Muslim being told to eat food that is unclean.”
She told the tribunal that since mid-2004, when the legislation was first tabled to local authorities, she had made it clear she would not perform the ceremonies.
An unofficial swap system was set up, with Ms Ladele – who earns £31,000 a year – being excused from performing civil partnership ceremonies.
But two gay colleagues filed an official complaint to her boss, Helen Mendez Childs, arguing that Ms Ladele’s beliefs were “homophobic” and had made them feel like “second-class citizens”. Ms Ladele’s position was then called into question.
She broke down while giving evidence on Monday as she described how she became isolated in an increasingly hostile workplace. “Everyone hated me,” she said. “I was told I would be better off dead. I complained I had been smeared, but management told me I was smearing myself. My spirit was crushed. I felt entirely alone.”
Until December last year, the country’s 1,700 registrars of births, marriages and deaths were permitted to opt out of civil partnership ceremonies. But their employment status changed with the introduction of the Statistics and Registration Act. Now designated as local government workers, they must carry out Town Hall orders.
Ms Ladele continues to work at the town hall – registering births and deaths and performing basic administrative duties – but claims she has been sidelined from working on Saturdays, when most marriages take place.
Conducting a Saturday ceremony can earn her up to £90 a time, potentially costing her £800 each month in overtime pay.
Barrister Adrian Linch, on behalf of the council, said: “The council totally rejects Ms Ladele’s claims that she had been ‘sent to Coventry’ and that staff ‘hated’ her. I would argue that the ordinary exchanges have been distorted in her mind as something more sinister than they really are.”
He told her: “At no stage did you make an official complaint. You did not test whether your concerns could be resolved.”
Ms Mendez Childs, Islington’s superintendent registrar and Ms Ladele’s manager, said: “I had a good working relationship with the claimant. But I certainly do believe that her refusal to take part in civil partnerships because of a person’s sexual orientation can be discriminatory. By not conducting the ceremonies, it was putting extra pressure on additional staff and two gay registrars had been clearly upset and distressed by her views.”
She added: “I told her it could be in breach of the council’s ‘dignity for all’ code of conduct and could be considered gross misconduct.”
Yesterday (Thursday), Ms Mendez Childs explained the council’s position. “We have always had a secular service,” she said. “We have spent all our time, especially in marriages, vetting services, vetting readings. We have to keep religion out. Lillian in the past actively performed that duty.
“Civil partnerships are exactly the same – a civil ceremony, and we have to keep religion out... I can’t see a difference between doing a civil marriage where God has been kept out of it and doing a civil partnership where God still has to be kept out of it.”
The Church of England supports the civil partnerships, which are not sanctified with religious ceremony. But the new laws have been rounded on by more orthodox Christian groups such as the Christian Institute, which is bankrolling Ms Ladele’s case. It has hired the services of barrister James Dinghams, QC, at “huge cost”.
Elizabeth Thatcher, a registrar working for Kent County Council who shares Ms Ladele’s orthodox beliefs, said she had been exempted from performing services.
Ms Ladele’s legal team called another registrar from City of London in a similar position and also a Muslim working in Hackney. Like Ms Ladele, their jobs are in jeopardy, with employers awaiting the outcome of the current tribunal.
A panel of three will make their decision after the hearing concludes today (Friday).
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