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'It is now quite likely the government will be prosecuted in the European court of justice,' said National Secular Society
Harriet Harman
Government defeat over churches' rights to deny jobs to gay people
The Government has bee defeated in the House of Lords over legislation restricting the ability of churches to deny jobs to LGBT people.
Under the current law, religious organisations can deny employment to those whose private conduct is inconsistent with their faith, which includes active homosexuals and those who have changed their gender.
Provisions in Harriet Harman's equality bill would have required churches to limit discrimination to clerical roles, with staff such as administrative and youth workers being unable to be denied employment because of their sexual orientation.
However, the key amendments to change the law were rejected by a vote of 216 to 178, leaving Harman with the option of trying to force the legislation through the Commons and face the risk of losing the whole bill because of the short amount of time left to this parliament.
Some bishops had claimed that they could lose the right to ensure that important roles other than clerical ones, such as key representatives and the heads of Catholic schools and other teaching staff, were filled by those who had lifestyles compatible with church beliefs.
During the debate, John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, said: "You may feel that many churches and other religious organisations are wrong on matters of sexual ethics.
"But, if religious freedom means anything it must mean that those are matters for the churches and other religious organisations to determine for themselves in accordance with their own convictions."
Before the vote, the National Secular Society's Keith Porteous Wood told BBC News that the bishops' position was "entirely unreasonable".
He said: "For every discrimination there's a victim, and it seems entirely unreasonable that the churches should be permitted to discriminate, on grounds of sexual orientation, against administrative staff, janitors, other ancillary staff - given that an EU directive does not permit them to be discriminated against."
In the Daily Telegraph, Porteous Wood said: "The Government has faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of religious agitation in the Lords.
"The National Secular Society will once more complain to the European commission. It is now quite likely the government will be prosecuted in the European court of justice."
