A British evangelical Christian man who sued the U.K. government for “religious discrimination” after his government employer refused to accommodate his discomfort of LGBTQ+ symbols had his lawsuit dismissed by a tribunal, according to a Daily Mail article published yesterday.
Mark Jennings accepted a job with U.K. Department for Work and Pensions in June 2024, but reportedly began making “unreasonable demands” soon afterwards. He requested that he be allowed to work from home during Pride month because of his “phobia” of Pride symbols.
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He said he didn’t want to hear his work colleagues “using different pronouns” because he believed “gender ideology [is] the work of the devil.” He also requested that “no visible imagery of the Pride or LGBTQ+ movements be displayed or celebration of those causes be permitted.”
An employment tribunal heard that his Roman Catholic and evangelical Christian faith made him feel “great anxiety” around LGBTQ+ symbols.
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“It is his view, in line with many others within the faith, that homosexuality and transgenderism is a sin contrary to the laws of God, and that a Christian should not promote LGBTQ+ activities,” the tribunal heard.
“He also sees the use of the rainbow by the LGBTQ+ community as co–opting, a symbol of God and Christianity [referencing the promise made to Noah after the flood], which is offensive to him,” the tribunal heard.
He said the mere sight of Pride rainbows in bus stops, local shops, and soccer matches caused him to go into “autistic shutdown.” However, his employer refused to accommodate his request since the law allows people to express support for Pride.
He ultimately declined the job offer, but the workplace held the position open for him, just in case he changed his mind. Instead, he filed a complaint with the employment tribunal alleging indirect religious belief discrimination and a failure to make reasonable adjustments, a form of disability discrimination, the aforementioned publication wrote.
The tribunal Judge Daniel Wright said that the government couldn’t have accommodated Jennings’ request to restrict Pride displays or pronoun usage because it would have opened the employer to possible discrimination claims. The employer also said his job role required him to work in the office in-person, making his work from home request untenable.
Jennings reportedly filed similar cases against on similar grounds against the Stagecoach bus travel company and the NatWest banking company.
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