The Dutch human rights commission has ruled in favour of a 25-year-old student who was rejected for an internship at a garden and farming supplies centre in Friesland because he is gay, local broadcaster Omrop Fryslan says on Thursday.

Bas van der Meer had been through two interviews with the company, A. Th. De Boer, when he received an email saying he is not welcome. ‘As nowhere in God’s word does he approve of you living out your sexual orientation… we cannot take you on,’ the email said.

The email came after the company had spotted a photograph of Van der Meer with his boyfriend on Facebook.

Discrimination

The human rights commission said the company had broken the law by rejecting Van der Meer and that he had faced discrimination. The company should not have differentiated between gay or straight students when filling the job, the commission said.

It is not yet clear what the impact of the ruling will be and Van der Meer will meet justice ministry officials later on Thursday, broadcaster Nos says. He wrote on his Facebook page: ‘Great to hear that the law always comes above religious beliefs.’

Some 58% of orthodox Protestants in the Netherlands think homosexuality is wrong, making them the most anti-gay group in the country, according to research from the government’s socio-cultural think-tank SCP at the end of 2014.