Homosexual Marriage

Not a Human Right

Oh, dear.  This is going to be a bit of a set back to the Commentariat in the UK and here.  The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled that homosexual marriage is not a human right.  Now, of course, this is a bit of a joke, because secular humanists only have gigantic sky hooks on which to hang their "human rights".  In secular humanist Western democracies human rights are whatever the majority of people want anyway.  Human rights in a secular state are nothing more than a wax nose to be twisted to the shape-shifting of the day.

But for what its worth, the European Court has ruled against homosexual marriage.  Regardless of the tenuous nature of the ruling, we are glad with the outcome.  This from the Daily Mail:

Same-sex marriages are not a human right, European judges have ruled.  Their decision shreds the claim by ministers that gay marriage is a universal human right and that same-sex couples have a right to marry because their mutual commitment is just as strong as that of husbands and wives. 


The ruling was made by judges of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg following a case involving a lesbian couple in a civil partnership who complained the French courts would not allow them to adopt a child as a couple. 

There is a sting in the tail of the ruling.  The august judges reckon that if homosexual marriage were declared a human right, anti-discrimination laws would require Christian churches to marry homosexuals.

The ruling also says that if gay couples are allowed to marry, any church that offers weddings will be guilty of discrimination if it declines to marry same-sex couples.  It means that if MPs legislate for same-sex marriage, the Coalition’s promise that churches will not be compelled to conduct the weddings will be worthless.

The UK government had been running the argument that if they legalised homosexual marriage, churches and conscientious objectors would not be required to perform homosexual marriages.  The European Court exploded that argument to pieces.

Neil Addison, a specialist in discrimination law, said: ‘Once same-sex marriage has been legalised then the partners to such a marriage are entitled to exactly the same rights as partners in a heterosexual marriage.  This means that if same-sex marriage is legalised in the UK it will be illegal for the Government to prevent such marriages happening in religious premises.’  


The Government’s consultation paper also said that no church would have to conduct gay weddings. It said there would be different legal categories of civil and religious marriage and same-sex couples would not be allowed religious marriages.

Hat Tip: Maria at NZ Conservative.