 The case attracted significant media attention due to the issues involved, particularly the balance of religious and LGBT rights, the intervention of former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, Lord Carey of Clifton, who provided a witness statement in support of the application, and the judge's strongly worded rebuttal of the applicant's submissions.Gary McFarlane was a 48-year-old Christian from Bristol, employed as a relationship counsellor by the Avon branch of Relate, a charity providing relationship support including counselling for couples, families, young people and individuals, sex therapy, mediation and training courses.He joined the organisation in August 2003, and a condition of his employment was acceptance of the group's equal opportunities policy, which required him to ensure ""that no person... [receive] less favourable treatment on the basis of characteristics, such as... sexual orientation..."".