The charity tribunal has rejected the latest appeal by Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds), the charity that wanted to be allowed to discriminate against gay couples that wish to adopt children.

Catholic Care wanted to be allowed to change its charitable objects so that it could bring itself within an exemption in the Equality Act 2010 and so be allowed to refuse to offer adoption services to same-sex couples.

The charity had already accepted that discrimination on the basis of religious belief alone would be unlawful under the Act, so it had confined its case to other arguments. It said the discrimination should be allowed because gay couples could adopt children through local authority adoption agencies or other charities and so would not be deprived of services by Catholic Care’s actions.

It also claimed that it could only operate its adoption service with the help of voluntary donations, and that its donors would stop supporting the charity if it had to provide adoption services to same-sex couples.  This, the charity argued, would mean the adoption service would have to close if the discrimination was not permitted.

But the tribunal said the charity had not provided sufficient evidence that its donors would stop their support, and anyway, the discriminatory views of its supporters could not justify discrimination by the charity.  As to the risk of closure, the tribunal said the charity had not yet fully explored all the alternatives and pointed out that other Catholic charities had found alternative means of operating since the law changed.

The tribunal also ruled that same-sex couples would suffer a significant detriment if they were not allowed to use the charity’s high-quality service, and the fact that they could avail themselves of other adoption services did not justify discrimination.

The tribunal’s ruling is the latest in a series of court judgments on the case, which began in November 2008 when the Charity Commission refused to let Catholic Care change its objects to exclude gay couples.  The charity tribunal upheld this decision in June 2009 but nine months later the High Court ordered the Charity Commission to reconsider its initial decision. Last August the Commission announced it was standing by its original verdict and so the charity sent the case back to the charity tribunal again.

Catholic Care now has 28 days to decide whether to appeal this latest judgment to the Upper Tribunal.  It is considering its next move.  Arthur Roche, Bishop of Leeds, said: “Catholic Care is very disappointed with this ruling. The Trustees are considering their position and whether or not to appeal.

“It is unfortunate that those who will suffer as a consequence of this ruling will be the most vulnerable children for whom Catholic Care has provided an excellent service for many years. It is an important point of principle that the charity should be able to prepare potential adoptive parents, a service recognised for its excellence by the local authorities who are responsible for placing children, according to the tenets of the Catholic faith.”