Christian student loses ban appeal over gay marriage slurs

 A devout Christian thrown off a University of Sheffield social work course after saying same-sex marriage was a “sin” has lost his appeal to the High Court.

Felix Ngole, of Barnsley, S Yorks, said he was lawfully expressing a traditional Christian view and complained that bosses at the university unfairly stopped him completing a postgraduate degree.

Mr Ngole said his right to freedom of speech and thought, enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, had been breached. But lawyers representing the university argued that he showed “no insight” and said Mr Ngole had been studying for a professional qualification and university bosses had to consider his “fitness to practise”.

Mr Ngole had posted the comments two years ago in a debate on a Facebook page about Kim Davis, a state official in Kentucky, United States, who refused to register same-sex marriages. Mr Ngole said he had argued that Mrs Davis’s position was based on the “Biblical view of same-sex marriage as a sin”. He said he was making a “genuine contribution” to an important public debate. But university bosses said he had posted comments on a publicly accessible Facebook page which were “derogatory of gay men and bisexuals”.

Rowena Collins-rice, a deputy High Court judge, ruled against him in a judgment yesterday.

Mr Ngole said he intended to appeal and added: “I am very disappointed by this ruling which supports the university’s decision to bar me from my chosen career because of my Biblical views on sexual ethics.”