NHS exec who was sacked for attacking gay adoption begins legal challenge
The anti-LGBT Christian Legal Centre is helping a former NHS exec pursue legal action, after getting axed for a row over gay adoption.
Richard Page had been employed as a non-executive director for a National Health Service trust, as well as separately serving as a family court magistrate in Kent.
Mr Page came to prominence in 2015 in his role as a magistrate, when he indicated in a court case that a gay couple should not be permitted to adopt because it was “natural and in the interests of a child to be brought up by a mother and father”.
He subsequently made multiple media appearances, insisting it was always “better for a man and a woman” to be parents, and lashing out at same-sex parents.
Mr Page was later sacked from his role within Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, after he was told that his public comments had a “negative impact” and brought the Trust into disrepute.
The former NHS exec launched a lawsuit this week, with support from the Christian Legal Centre, which frequently provides free legal support to people sacked for homophobic conduct.
A four-day hearing begins today at Croydon Employment Tribunal.
In statements released via the Christian Legal Centre Mr Page has claimed he is being persecuted for his religious beliefs – though as far as we’re aware the Bible is silent on the subject of same-sex adoption.
According to the group, Mr Page will accuse the NHS of pursuing a “politically correct orthodoxy” and “ideological dictatorship”.
He claimed: “It is quite extraordinary that I should have been dismissed not only from the Magistracy for holding this view, which I fully believe to be in the best interests of the child, but from the NHS as well,” he said.
“It seems to me that if this kind of political correctness continues, Christians will no longer be able to hold positions of public office unless they capitulate their deeply-held and once-mainstream beliefs to the new liberal orthodoxy.
“My case raises serious issues of freedom of belief and expression in the workplace. It could have major implications for how public bodies treat staff who hold religious beliefs.”
Anti-LGBT activist Andrea Williams, who has long opposed discrimination protections for gay people, added: “This case is another in a long line of cases that demonstrates the intolerance of our illiberal elites. Far from promoting diversity they punish people like Richard who serves his community so well.
“This case shows the ugly face of the LGBT lobby that is incapable of tolerating anyone brave enough to challenge their lifestyle.
“The lobby will not be satisfied until they have eliminated any whiff of dissent in public life. They are the bullies.”
Ms Williams has previously argued against a ban on gay ‘cure’ therapy.
