Religious groups welcome gay marriage consultation

While the Catholic Church and the Church of England oppose plans to legalise gay marriage other religious groups have welcomed the government’s consultation on the issue.

The Catholic Church and the Church of England’s opposition to government plans to introduce CIVIL marriage for gay couples is well documented. Last weekend the Catholic Church told its congregations across the country it was their “duty” to oppose the government plans but neglected to mention the proposals were for CIVIL gay marriage only – not religious which is significantly different.

Not all religious groups are opposed to the proposals and several religious groups have welcomed the government’s consultation. Those groups include Liberal Jews, Quakers (long-standing supports of gay rights in the UK) as well as Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.

Paul Parker, Recording Clerk for Quakers in Britain, is quoted by Pink News as saying ‘Quakers believe marriage is a celebration of the committed union of two people who have found love for each other.  We can see no reason, religious or otherwise, why marriage and civil partnership should not be equally available to all our couples who wish to register their commitment in Quaker meeting houses.’

The public consultation on gay marriage is now open and recent opinion polls continue to put support for legalisation of same-sex marriages as in the majority. At the Liberal Democrat conference in Gateshead Nick Clegg promised his party gay marriages would take place by 2015. The legalisation of gay marriage has the support of David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband (though there are some within the Conservative and Labour party who oppose the move) while north of the border in Scotland Alex Salmond is also a supporter. {jcomments off}