It's the word of god versus the word of man over in merry old England. The Church of England's Bishop of Hereford, Anthony Priddis has been accused of denying John Reaney employment because he's gay.

As a result, Reaney brought Priddis to tribunal, where he hopes to prove his case and, thus, get the job he feels he deserves. Reaney's lawyer insists:

My client is a committed Christian who has devoted his life to sharing his Christian faith with others... The Church discriminated against him on the grounds of his sexual orientation when the Bishop of Hereford refused to confirm his appointment to a post.

In our view the legal protection for gay people is robust and the Church is not entitled to claim any exemption from that protection for such a post.

But Church officials heard a different story today, when Priddis told them the Church would have hired him - they even allowed him an interview - but that Priddis felt his "lifestyle" would be a disruption:

Mr Reaney's lifestyle had the potential to impact on the spiritual, moral and ethical leadership within the diocese... The Church's teachings draws distinction between sexual orientation and practice and lifestyle.

It wasn't Reaney's homosexuality, per se, but his homosexual acts. Priddis explained that Reaney has just come out of a five-year relationship and, thus, "It would not have been right for me to take an undertaking of his head that his heart could not keep". That is, Reaney's sex life went against the Church's stance on celibate. No word on what the tribunal had to say about all of this, but it seems pretty straight forward to us. Unless, of course, Reaney can prove that he and his lover never had sex (or, of course, that he wouldn't have sex), which would be pretty miraculous.

Sexual activity grounds for denying employment claims bishop [Pink News UK]