Christian loses claim over gay adoptions

Dr Sheila Matthews, who sat on an adoption panel for Northamptonshire County Council, lost the job when she asked to abstain from voting in cases where homosexual couples were planning to adopt, claiming it ran against her Christian beliefs.

Concluding a two-day employment tribunal in Leicester, regional employment judge John MacMillan said there was no evidence that Dr Matthews was treated differently from any other panel member who might request to abstain from voting, or that she was specifically discriminated against on the basis of her Christianity.

Mr MacMillan said the issue "transcends the boundaries of all religion".

The 50-year-old, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, told the hearing she felt that children "do best" in a home "with two parents of different gender who are in a long-term committed relationship".

Dr Matthews, who was dismissed from the adoption panel in April last year, told the tribunal that she believed the Bible shows "God's ideal pattern" for families and that she believed there was evidence children placed with same-sex couples "did less well".

Mr MacMillan said he believed her views were based more upon the scientific literature she had read than on her religious beliefs.

Commenting on the ruling, Dr Matthews said: "Everything is open to be considered, I'm not making any sort of decisions right now.

"We need to mull everything over very carefully I wouldn't have brought the case if I felt we were destined to fail."

She was ordered to pay costs to the council. A district judge will decide how much at a hearing on a date to be fixed.