'Gays,' atheists oppose rights for Christians
Homosexuals and atheists in the United Kingdom are raising objections to plans by their own government's Equality and Human Rights Commission to defend Christians who have faced discrimination because of their faith.
"Wholly disproportionate," said the British Humanist Association after the commission announced its plans to intervene in several human rights cases on behalf of Christians that are moving to the European Court of Human Rights.
"It is one thing to make the case for reasonable accommodation in matters such as religious holidays, and quite another if the accommodation sought to allow the believer to discriminate against others in the provision of a service," said BHA chief Andrew Copson.
Ben Summerskill, chief of the homosexual advocacy institute called Stonewall, said in a report in PinkNews the move by the government panel left him "deeply disturbed."
"The commission should be crystal clear that if it seeks to defend the claimed right of any public servant to turn away any user of a public service, it will face strong opposition," he told the news publication.