Council admits Christian councillor was free to oppose Pride grant
from Christian Concern:
A Christian Conservative councillor has been exonerated after defending herself against code of conduct allegations following her refusal to back a Pride event grant.
Mary Douglas, who has been a Conservative councillor in Salisbury for 15 years, was removed from her portfolio role for skills and social mobility in November 2019 as a result of the stance she took against the use of public funds to support a Pride event.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, last week Cllr Douglas challenged the council’s controversial decision to bring code of conduct proceedings against her on the questionable allegation that she acted in a manner which contravened the public sector equality duty.
Following the hearing, the council concluded that Cllr Douglas had the right under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights to express opposition in her statement.
The council also found that Cllr Douglas did have due regard for the public sector equality duty.
In written submissions, her representative had argued that Cllr Douglas was opposing the political message of the gay pride event and the use of public funds to support it. Her opposition was not to the people involved, but to the message being promoted.
The submission went on to criticise the Council’s decision to challenge her political deliberations and her freedom of political speech without providing a lawful and legitimate aim for doing so.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
