£47,000 for Gay Youth Worker Bishop Rejected

A tribunal yesterday awarded a gay youth worker £47,000 compensation after ruling that his appointment to a job had been blocked by the Bishop of Hereford, the Right Rev Anthony Priddis.

John Reaney, 42, from north Wales, told the tribunal he had been interviewed and told he was the best applicant. He was then questioned by the bishop in a two-hour meeting he described as embarrassing and humiliating. Three days later, the bishop telephoned Reaney to say his application had not been successful.

During his evidence, Priddis said he had made clear to Reaney that any person in a committed sexual relationship outside marriage would be turned down for such a key role.

During four days of evidence, Reaney's legal team argued that a heterosexual person would not have been subject to the same level of "intrusive questioning".

Yesterday Anni Holden, spokeswoman for the Hereford diocese, said the church was exempt from the regulations in some circumstances. "We are now aware that we must make it clear if it is a genuine occupational requirement that the post-holder should believe in and uphold the Christian belief and ideal of marriage," she said. "This is the crux of the matter, not sexual orientation."

A spokesman for Stonewall, the gay rights campaign group, said the award included £33,000 for loss of future earnings and £7,000 damages for "psychiatric injury". The spokesman also said that Priddis would be expected to take equal opportunities training and faced costs estimated at £50,000.

"The substantial level of compensation sends out a very clear message," said Ben Summerskill, the group's chief executive. "Not even a bishop is above this law."