Catholic adoption agency cannot bar gay parents from service

The UK-based agency called Catholic Care sought exclusion from 2007 sexual orientation regulations and began legal action to change its constitution – so it could work with married couples only. But it lost the attempt to restrict its service to heterosexual couples after the Charity Commission found there is no justification for barring lesbian and gay parents.

Catholic Care told the high court that it would have to stop finding homes for children because Catholic donations would cease if it helped gay prospective parents. Andrew Hind – chief executive of the commission said, “We have concluded that in this case the reasons Catholic Care have set out do not justify their wish to discriminate.”