ABSTRACT
The case that serves as author starting point is a judicial process that ended in 2013 with a sentence issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The main character in the case was Ms Ladele, employed by the London Borough of Islington, a local public authority that had a 'Dignity for All' equality and diversity policy, which stated that Islington should promote fair treatment for everyone without discrimination. Ms Ladele did not need to rationally justify her opposition to the law because she was not formally criticising it, Ms Ladele was asking to be exempted from some of her duties. Granting her a special status would have not only given the impression of a religious bias in state policy, but would also have meant the approval of the use of conscientious objection as a shortcut in the legislative process. The legal recognition of same-sex marriages implies the 'moral neutrality of homosexuality and bisexuality'.
