‘Ex gay’ group hit with £100,000 bill over banned bus ad
By Will Stroude
A Christian group which had adverts advocating gay ‘conversion’ therapy banned from London buses has been hit with a massive legal bill after losing its latest appeal.
The Core Issues group has been ordered to pay £100,000 in legal costs after the High Court rejected its case, which sought to overturn Transport for London’s (TfL) ban of its posters in 2012 following a public outcry.
The posters – which parody Stonewall’s infamous “Some people are gay. Get over it!” campaign – read: “Not Gay! Ex-Gay, Post-Gay and Proud. Get over it!”.
The High Court had previously ruled in 2013 that the ban – backed by London Mayor and TfL chairman Boris Johnson – was lawful because displaying the advert would “cause grave offence” to those who were gay.
Core Issues have argued that London mayor Boris Johnson had ordered TfL to impose the ban for the “improper purpose” of seeking votes from gay people.
But in the latest ruling, Lord Justice Sullivan said that the ban was “certainly not unlawful”, and refused the group a fresh appeal.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said of the latest development: “It does not finish here. It is all a whitewash.”
Referring to the legal bill Core Issues has now been landed with, she added: “This is intimidation. It is an extortionate amount of costs against somebody seeking to do good.”
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