Equality rules

I was relieved that guest house owners Hazelmary and Peter Bull, who had refused a gay couple on grounds of “religiously-informed judgment of conscience”, have lost their appeal to the UK Supreme Court.

They regard sex outside marriage as a “sin” but might we really imagine in a year’s time when same-sex marriage is legal that the Bulls would feel differently?

They argued that as the guest house is their home they are entitled to refuse entry to whomsoever they chose. That is true, but as a business it becomes subject to equality laws which apply to everyone and from which “religious conscience” provides no exemption.

Neil Barber

Edinburgh Secular Society

Saughtonhall Drive

Edinburgh