Teachers ‘face sack’ if they won’t endorse gay marriage

Teachers and other workers could be forced out of their jobs unless they endorse gay marriage, a new legal opinion says. The Daily Telegraph has published an article on the issue today.

The opinion, by leading human rights lawyer Aidan O’Neill QC, looks at the impact of redefining marriage on liberty of conscience. He says teachers and NHS chaplains are at risk.

He also says that foster carers could be barred from looking after children if they support traditional marriage, and clergy could be taken to court if they refuse to conduct gay weddings.

Dr Sharon James, a Coalition for Marriage spokesperson, said: “Mr O’Neill’s expert summary is incontrovertible proof that legalising gay marriage is not only a legislative minefield but an unparalleled attack on the freedom of conscience Britons have under the law.

“The redefinition of marriage would ride roughshod over a person’s right to support marriage as the exclusive union between one man and one woman, whether that person be a teacher, a parent, a foster carer or a marriage registrar.

“The only winners from a change in marriage law will be lawyers, who will make a fortune out of what would rapidly become a legal mess of untold proportions. I hope the irony is not lost on the Government that their misguided campaign to legalise gay marriage would create a society with fewer freedoms than before.”