Church minister who wrote Sinitta's 'So Macho' wins claim over alleged homophobia

A church minister who wrote the disco anthem So Macho for the singer Sinitta has won a religious discrimination claim after stating that people who said homosexuals were born that way were making the same argument as paedophiles.

Pentecostal Reverend George Hargreaves, 62, who once said his 1985 hit was partly intended “for the gay scene to go mad to on poppers”, launched the claim after a former colleague shunned him at work over a perceived homophobic remark.

While working as a night concierge for his current employer, Evolve Housing + Support, a homeless charity based in South Kensington, he had entered a discussion with colleague Elizabeth Akano about the Bible's teachings.

Ms Akano, a support assistant in her 20s, said “people are born gay” to which he replied “paedophiles make the same argument”, an employment tribunal was told.

It heard: “The claimant went on to state that even if people are born with a condition, that does not put it beyond God's ability to change or heal it.”

But following the incident, Rev Hargreaves said a “hostile” environment was created in the workplace when Ms Akano repeatedly began to ignore the minister, causing him to lodge a formal complaint.

Ms Akano complained too, claiming his comments amounted to homophobia, but neither were upheld, forcing Rev Hargreaves to appeal the decision.

During the grievance process, he argued: “It is reasonable for me to say, in response to Liz and anyone who says that 'people are born gay', that paedophiles would also say that they were born that way.

“This is my standard response to the argument about people being born as homosexual. It is not illegal to put the two words in the same sentence.”

When later questioned by his area manager Jon Deakin, Rev Hargreaves became “upset” when asked about his membership of the Scottish Christian Party despite Mr Deakin being warned not to as it was said to be irrelevant.

At London Central Tribunal Centre, Judge Andrew James ruled in the minister's favour, concluding he was harassed and discriminated against on grounds of his religious beliefs as he was ignored by Ms Akano and inappropriately questioned by his area manager.

In a written ruling, Judge James said: “As to whether her conduct was related to religious belief, we find that it was. It arose out of Ms Akano's conversation with the claimant in the middle of January 2019. She was clearly upset by the claimant's comment which appeared to make a link between paedophiles and the gay community.”

“The claimant is correct to say that it is not illegal to use those words together, in the sense that it is not a criminal offence. Many people however, whatever their sexual orientation, who do not share the claimant's deeply held and genuine religious beliefs, would find the use of those words in that context to be offensive. Ms Akano found them offensive, as did Mr Deakin,” he added.

Rev Hargreaves was also judged to have been racially discriminated against by Ms Akano, who is also black, after she said “you are one of those black men who like white women.”

Any compensation from the case will be decided at a remedy hearing at a later date.

A spokesperson for Evolve Housing + Support said: “We are still considering the judgement but were pleased to see that the Tribunal found in our favour in relation to a large proportion of the specific allegations, but recognise that there were findings against us on a small number of discrete points, mostly relating to an ex-employee. We will be considering internally what lessons can be learned.”

Rev Hargreaves was ordained in 1990. His wife Maxine, who was also a Pentecostal pastor and founder of the East London Christain Choir, died of a brain tumour in 2011.

Despite being terminally ill, she stood as a candidate in Hackney in the 2010 general election while he unsuccessfully stood in Barking, taking just one per cent of the vote.

The Oxford educated minister retired from public life the same year, but is seen as a regular commentator on BBC One's Sunday Morning Live discussing his views.