BREAKING NEWS: Victory in ‘gay bus advert’ case
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| Andrea Williams CEO of the Christian Legal Centre |
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| Paul Diamond Standing Counsel to the Christian Legal Centre |
This is a good decision with a number of other positive aspects:
- it recognises the need to ensure that politicians don’t make controversial decisions for their own political gain;
- it recognises that ‘ex–gays’ are protected from discrimination;
- it means that Transport for London (TfL) should give a level playing field to both sides of the debate (which means, in practice, that both advertisements should run or none);
- Lord Justice Briggs (one of the other judges) specifically spoke of the need to respect sincerely held religious views on homosexual conduct.
“In the interests of justice…”
In April 2012 Christian charity Core Issues Trust was set to run adverts on London buses which read: “Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay and proud. Get over it!” These adverts were in response to those run by Stonewall, a homosexual campaign group, which read: “Some people are gay. Get over it!”Core Issues had their adverts approved for display by the advertising authorities. But when the Guardian newspaper reported that these adverts would run, Boris Johnson appears to have ordered that they not be displayed.
This happened just as Mr Johnson was campaigning for re-election as Mayor of London and was courting the ‘gay vote’. Tellingly, he was due to appear at a hustings organised by Stonewall the day after he banned the Core Issues adverts.
Through a Freedom of Information Request, an email was uncovered which read: “Boris has just instructed TfL to pull the adverts”. This email hadn’t been disclosed to the High Court Judge.
In his judgment, Master of the Rolls Lord Dyson said that “in the interests of justice” there should be further investigation into the Mayor’s involvement. He wants to know whether “(i) the decision was instructed by the Mayor and (ii) it was made for an improper purpose”.
“No place for toleration”
Lord Justice Briggs also recognised how Stonewall’s adverts, which TfL did allow, could come across to Christians as “at least disrespectful of their sincerely held beliefs, and to some as suggesting that there is no place for the toleration of their beliefs in modern society”.This is another positive from the judgment and begins to address the effects of only allowing one side of the debate about human sexuality. Christian Concern.
