Church sues multimillion pound Trust for religious discrimination
from The Christian Institute:
An evangelical church is accusing Scotland’s largest charitable trust of religious discrimination after it cancelled a rental agreement over the church’s views on same-sex marriage.
Stirling Free Church had a contract to use premises owned by the multimillion pound Robertson Trust for its Sunday services. But when trust chairwoman Shonaig Macpherson learned of the agreement, the contract was terminated. Macpherson reportedly objected to the church’s biblical belief that marriage is between one man and one woman.
Glasgow Sheriff Court is set to hear the case next week.
Unlawful
It is unlawful for providers of venue facilities to discriminate against people because of their religious beliefs. The UK courts say the religious belief that marriage is between a man and a woman is protected under equality and human rights law.
When asked why the contract for the Barracks in Stirling had been terminated, the Trust claimed it had a policy preventing it from letting space for activities promoting religion or politics.
However, when the church wrote to the Trust asking for a copy of the policy, the Head of Finance revealed that no “explicit policy” existed and decisions were made “on a case by case basis”.
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