From the BBC:

A Catholic adoption society has won a High Court battle over laws forcing it to consider gay couples as parents.

Leeds-based Catholic Care had warned it would be forced to give up its work finding homes for children if it had to comply with the legislation.

Its plea to be allowed an exemption was opposed by the Charity Commission.

However, Mr Justice Briggs has allowed Catholic Care’s appeal and ordered the commission to reconsider the case in the light of his judgement.

Predictably, the gay rights group, Stonewall wasn’t too happy:

Jonathan Finney, head of external affairs at Stonewall, said: “It’s unthinkable that anyone engaged in delivering any kind of public or publicly funded service should be given licence to pick and choose service users on the basis of individual prejudice.

“It’s clearly in the best interests of children in care to encourage as wide a pool of potential adopters as possible.”

Is it in the best interests of children to consider placing them with a same-sex couple? Not according to Baroness Deech, family lawyer and chairman of the Bar Standards Board:

Same sex parents are bad for children if they deprive them of the influence of a father or mother, she said.

She warned that gay or lesbian parents cannot be best for the welfare of children if there is no contact with adults of another sex.

Lady Deech spoke of her ‘unease’ about the laws on homosexual couples. The former chief of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority criticised recent laws on in vitro fertilisation that have given new rights to gay partners……

‘There is a wealth of research showing that children need fathers, not just two parents. Children need to see complementary roles, the relationship between the sexes, a microcosm of society, as they grow up.’