On 31st March 2026, AMI welcomed Professor Robert Wintemute to deliver a research seminar examining the reciprocal relationship between majority tolerance of Muslim religious diversity in Christian-majority societies and Muslim acceptance of the secular legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Professor Wintemute structured his presentation around two principal themes: the legal accommodation of visible Muslim religious practices across several jurisdictions, and the global expansion of same-sex marriage laws. Drawing on landmark case law from Europe, North America, and beyond, he proposed a framework of reciprocal tolerance as a foundation for dialogue between religious freedom and evolving equality norms in pluralistic societies.
Key Findings
Religious Accommodation in Law: Protecting Visible Expressions of Faith
Professor Wintemute opened by surveying how courts across multiple jurisdictions have responded to claims for religious accommodation, particularly concerning visible expressions of faith such as religious dress and symbols. In the United Kingdom, he highlighted how apparently neutral institutional rules have been found to constitute indirect discrimination when they disproportionately burden religious minorities — a principle illustrated by the landmark case in which a school’s prohibition on turbans was held to discriminate against Sikh pupils. This body of case law, he argued, demonstrates how equality law can function as a meaningful protection for minority religious identities. He went on to discuss cases involving Muslim dress — including disputes over the jilbab and the niqab — which reveal the more intricate balancing exercise courts must perform between institutional interests and individual religious freedom. Comparable developments in Canada, the United States, South Africa, and Germany were also examined, with courts in those jurisdictions often requiring accommodation of religious clothing and symbols, including turbans, kirpans, and hijabs.
Secularism versus Religious Freedom: The French and Québécois Models
The seminar contrasted the accommodationist approaches of the above jurisdictions with more restrictive models. France was presented as a paradigmatic case, having enacted legislation banning conspicuous religious symbols in schools and prohibiting face coverings in public spaces. European supranational courts have at times upheld such restrictions, reflecting broader tensions between commitments to secularism and the protection of religious freedom. Professor Wintemute also noted similar debates in Québec, where recent legislation restricts certain public officials from wearing religious symbols. International human rights bodies, however, have in some instances criticised such measures as violations of the right to freedom of religion, highlighting the ongoing normative contest between competing visions of the public sphere.
The Global Expansion of Same-Sex Marriage and the Question of Reciprocal Tolerance
The second major theme of the seminar concerned the rapid international expansion of same-sex marriage. Since 2001, thirty-eight countries — predominantly Christian-majority states — have legalised same-sex marriage. By contrast, many states, particularly Muslim-majority jurisdictions, continue to criminalise same-sex sexual activity. Professor Wintemute suggested that this divergence need not be permanent and that a space for greater mutual accommodation may exist. Just as Western majority societies have increasingly come to accept visible Muslim religious diversity — as evidenced by the legal protections surveyed in the first half of the seminar — Muslim communities might, he proposed, gradually come to accept the secular legal recognition of same-sex marriage, even where the extension of religious marriage rites remains a distant prospect. This framework of reciprocal tolerance, he argued, offers a productive basis for ongoing dialogue between the claims of religious freedom and the evolving norms of equality law in increasingly pluralistic societies.
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About the Speaker
Professor Robert Wintemute is Professor of Human Rights Law at King’s College London and a leading scholar in the fields of human rights and anti-discrimination law. His particular areas of expertise include sexual orientation and gender identity, the protection of religious and other minorities in European and international legal systems, and the relationship between equality law and human rights. He is widely recognised for his comparative work across common law and civil law jurisdictions and for his contributions to legal scholarship on the recognition of same-sex partnerships and marriage internationally.
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