in the news
from December 2007

A Sheffield magistrate is taking legal action against the government next month because he is not being allowed to discriminate against lesbians and gay men. It is being viewed as a landmark case.

Andrew McClintock has served as a magistrate on the South Yorkshire bench for the last 18 years and for the last 15 has sat on the ‘Family Panel’ which oversees the placement of children in the care system. Following the Civil Partnership legislation McClintock felt that he could be forced into placing children with same-sex couples. He approached his management who told him that he could not cherrypick cases and that he had to uphold the law. McClintock duly resigned. He is now taking the government to an industrial tribunal claiming constructive dismissal. He states that his rights and civil lLiberties as a Christian are being undermined, and his case is being supported by a variety of Christian groups and web sites.

However we have to ask when has it ever been somebody’s civil liberty to discriminate against another group of people?

John Rossington