EU commissioner questions Polish-church bar on gay teachers

A European Union commissioner has rejected claimsby a Polish government minister that her country's Roman Catholic schools canrefuse to employ gay and lesbian teachers.

"The commission fails to see how a teacher's sexual orientation could reasonablyconstitute a genuine and determining occupational requirement," said VivianeReding, who is the EU's justice commissioner, and comes from Luxembourg.

"Organizations whose ethos is based on religion or belief are allowed to take aperson's religion or belief into account, where necessary, when recruitingpersonnel, and to require their personnel to show loyalty to that ethos," saidReding. "It is made clear, however, that any difference in treatment should notjustify discrimination on grounds other than of religion or belief."

Reding was responding to parliamentary questions for a ruling on employment atreligious schools from Michael Cashman, a lawmaker representing Britain's LabourParty, and Raul Romeva i Rueda, who represents Spain's Green Party. This movecame after Elzbieta Radziszewska, a senior Polish official dealing with Issuesof Equal Treatment, said that her country's Catholic schools are entitled to bargay or lesbian staffers.

In a 26 October written statement, Reding said that the European Court ofJustice had not yet tested the issue but noted that the EU's anti-discriminationdirective rules that, "religion or belief, sexual orientation, age ordisability" is to be taken into account by employers only when, "legitimate andproportionate" and, "essential for the job in question".

Radziszewska rejected the commissioner's ruling, and said she believed that"different treatment" was justified in the case of Catholic schools.

"It is clearly stated that the directive does not affect the rights of churchesand other public or private organizations, whose ethics draw on religion orconvictions, to demand that employees act in good faith and are loyal to theorganization's ethics," Radziszewska said in a 28 October statement. "If someonedoes not fulfil these ethical requirements, and wishes at the same time to beemployed in institutions where these requirements are indispensable andessential for a given job, they must reckon that the principle of equaltreatment need not be applied in their case."

Gay and lesbian groups have often complained of discrimination against them inPoland, where the predominant Catholic Church opposed clauses in the 1997constitution that bar discrimination on grounds of, ''sexual orientation", andit has rejected requests for a pastoral service for homosexuals.

In a September interview with the Polish Catholic Gosc Niedzielny newspaper,Radziszewska said church-owned schools and colleges could refuse jobs todeclared homosexual staffers, and sack those already employed, "in line withtheir [the church's institutions'] values and principles".

Poland's Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has criticised this claim, and thehead of the country's Anti-Discrimination Rights Association, Krzysztof Smiszek,has also rejected it. He said the minister's, "hurtful statements" conflict withEuropean Union norms, and risk creating, "a climate allowing homophobia inworkplaces"

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