Family Court magistrate suspended after objecting to gay parents
A magistrate has been suspended – after he objected to a gay couple being permitted to adopt a child.
Richard Page – a Christian father of two who serves in the Family Court – insisted during an adoption case that it would be better for a child to be placed “with a mother and father” than with their prospective parents, who are gay.
He made the comments in a closed-doors meeting with other magistrates, who reported him to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.
The JCIO said in a statement: “The Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice have issued Mr Richard Page JP, a Magistrate assigned to the Central Kent Bench with a reprimand.
“Mr Page, whilst sitting in the Family Court, was found to have been influenced by his religious beliefs and not by the evidence.
“The Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice considered this amounted to serious misconduct and that Mr Page should have recused himself from the matter.”
Mr Page told the Mail that he will be allowed to resume his position after attending equalites training.
He said: “There is tremendous pressure to keep quiet and go along with what is seen to be politically correct.
“Everyone else seems to be allowed to stand up for their beliefs except for Christians.
“I think there is something about a man, a woman and a baby, that it’s natural and therefore the others are not. That is the comment that I made.
“Therefore, since my task as a magistrate is to do the best for the child, my feeling was, quite reasonably, that a man and a woman would be better.”
Mr Page is seeking advice from anti-gay pressure group Christian Concern.
