A woman has won the right to opt out of giving civil partnerships to gay couples on the grounds that she is chrisitan, this is imo anb outrage, what right does she have to refuse to serve gay couples, none, the fact she won this court case is a MASSIVE and i repeat MASSIVE breach of the rights of the gay community and the principles of the law in this country, effectively the tribunal has said that religous people can opt out of the law, please let me know your thoughts on this utterly outrageous ruling.

Link: http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/law_order/christian+registrar+wins+right+to+refuse+gay+civil+partnerships/2328972

outrageous, the law is the law, I mean if Im christian does that mean I can rob a grocery store? This is ridiculous.

exactly the point im making, this ruling means this country is on the verge of going down a very slippery slope.

That's pretty damn ridiculous.

That is the stupidest law I have ever heard.

People can do anything they want if their religion tells them to?

This is a split issue I think. If she doesn't feel comfortable preforming the service she has the right not to do it. At the same time it could cause a problem with many more people opting not to preform same sex unions.

edit: its the law, noone has the right to opt out, when you let people opt out of the law, you pave the way for chaos

she has to do it, she took the job, she knew it was part of it, the second you make a ruling like this you open a very dangerous can of worms.

I agree that this ruling creates a lot of problems but it isn't a one sided issue. There are the rights for her personally considering her religion and there are the rights of the community who want these civil unions. It is a double edged sword.

Quote from the end of the article:

"The case has raised questions about gay and religious rights. Is one more important than the other?"

I would say gay rights since I don't believe in religion and all that.

I heard something once called "objection of conscience" (i think thats the name). That gives doctors that work on public hospitals the right to refuse to perform abortions because of religious beliefs. I guess the judge applied it to this case.

I know that this could lead to people trying to break laws left and right, but I don´t know. Sometimes exemptions are created in laws. Laws aren´t set in stone and the judge has to intepret (to a point) them because the law can´t possibly prepare for every situation.

I, however, am kind of torn on this one.