Mayoral Candidate in London Fired for Saying ‘Marriage Is Between a Man and Woman’ Wins Lawsuit

(Courtesy of Christian Concern)

The Christian mayoral candidate in London’s civic election has scored a “massive win” after tasting bitter discrimination from her former employer, housing association L&Q.

It wasn’t discrimination for her skin color—she’s the daughter of Jamaican immigrants—but the religious views she espoused during her campaign that marriage is “between a man and a woman.” For this, she was fired from her job of 13 years, though she fought back. And won.

A Christian Mayoral Candidate in a Leftist Company

While working for housing company L&Q, Maureen Martin, 57, had risen from a temp position to become a manager overseeing staff. The views that got her in hot water with the company had less to do with the insights she drew regarding the challenges facing minorities, including her own demographic, and more to do with the solution she proposed, as a mayoral candidate interested in bettering the lives of Londoners.

What insights were those? She cites that a staggering 75 percent of black children in the UK are born out of wedlock, which she calls “atrocious.” Similar statistics in the U.S. show some 73 percent of black children grow up in unwedded households. “We have more of our young black boys in prison, joining gangs, knife crime, failure in the academic arena—it shows in the results," Martin, president of the Christian People’s Alliance political party, told The Epoch Times.

Housing association L&Q in London, UK. (Screenshot/Google Maps)

And her solution? This naturally concerns Martin, who aspires to represent London’s constituents. As a Christian minister, she credits the traditional family model—the nuclear family—with producing the most favorable results in raising children. “That model was created by God. He knew what he was doing,” she said, adding that this model is “the foundation of our Western culture.” “Any society where the family is broken down is doomed to failure.”

Publishing this message on leaflets during her 2022 campaign, she might have been lauded as a champion for marginalized minorities, such as her own black community, or hailed a hero for women, who bear the brunt of child-rearing in single-parent situations.

But that wasn’t the case. Instead, Martin would be fired by the progressive-leaning company she worked for, L&Q, which supports the LGBTQ community and, according to Martin, frowns upon certain Christian values as “homophobic” and “discriminatory.”

London mayoral candidate Maureen Martin, president of the Christian People’s Alliance. (Courtesy of Christian Concern)

L&Q supports Stonewall, an LGBTQ charity in the UK that lobbies companies on behalf of said community. As in America, companies in England have been bombarded by demands for “cultural diversity” from Leftist-affiliated shareholders, generating incentives to implement progressivist policies in companies—regardless of the costs. Martin hadn’t heard of Stonewall just yet. She would soon find out.

“They’re an LGBTQ charity and they tend to carry quite a bit of cultural clout, if you know what I mean,” she said. “They have companies sign on to their agenda, and their organization probably sees these companies sort of in a [good] favor. I don’t know exactly what they promised [L&Q] but, honestly, it sounds like sort of perks to be part of the organization.” L&Q had “very much sold in and sold out for this particular organization,” she said.

Her colleagues at the company all knew she was a Christian. The managers also knew of her political engagements. “I wouldn’t necessarily be quiet about it, but I wasn’t necessarily shouting from the rooftops either,“ she said. ”In these companies, you have to be wise about when you speak up and when you don’t speak up.”

‘They Violated My Rights on Every Level’

During her mayoral campaign, Martin published the following statement in her “six-point plan” leaflet:

I pledge to cut through political correctness and simply state the truth that natural marriage between a man and a woman is the fundamental building block for a successful society, and the safest environment for raising children.

That didn’t go over well with heads at L&Q.

While LGBTQ advocates accused her of “breaking laws on hate speech & equality” and “actively promoting prejudice and discrimination,“ a certain ”company connection” reported her to the bosses. L&Q’s response was to “accuse me of being homophobic and discriminating against LGBTQ people,” she said. Martin describes the resultant discipline as a “Soviet style interrogation.”

(Left) London mayoral candidate Maureen Martin; (Right) A leaflet displays mayoral candidate Maureen Martin's six-point plan manifesto. (Courtesy of Christian Concern)

Shortly thereafter, despite her exemplary performance in the workplace, Martin was handed a letter of dismissal for “gross misconduct,” resulting from the statement in her manifesto. Rather than back down, though, Martin doubled down. Recanting her words didn’t even cross her mind. “It was a no brainer. They violated my rights on every level,” she said, citing the European Court of Human Rights’ enumeration of religious expression and free speech rights. “They’ve violated both articles—Article 10 of the European Human Rights Act.”

Lacking means to mount a legal solo offensive, she allied with Christian Concern, an organization that offers legal support in cases of religious discrimination. They put L&Q on notice that they would be defending themselves in court. “I accused them of unfair dismissal and discriminating against me because of my religion,” Martin said, adding that political speech in the UK is also protected. “My statement comes out in the category of political speech, because I was running legitimately in an electoral campaign.”

Ultimately doubling down proved very effective. The company folded. In January, L&Q chose an out-of-court settlement rather than battle it out—it would cost far more to litigate in the long run—in particular because Martin’s case was so strong.

Martin calls it “a massive win” for Christians. “If I hadn’t launched a campaign and just walked away, there’d be nothing,” she said. “So it’s important to challenge these cases and make sure that the perpetrators are put on notice: ‘You’re not going to get away with this.’”

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