Peers vote for church civil partnership ceremonies
From The Times
The House of Lords voted to lift the ban on civil partnership ceremonies in churches and other religious premises last night. Peers voted by 95 to 21 – a majority of 74 – to lift the ban which previously prevented gays and lesbians from getting “married” in such places.
In a letter to The Times ten days ago, senior bishops including the Bishop of Salisbury and the Dean of Southwark expressed their support for the amendment, which was tabled by gay Labour peer Lord Alli.
The move will result in an amendment to the Equalities Bill which would allow, though not compel, religious organisations to host civil partnerships. Religious language would also be permitted within the ceremonies.
It is predicted that as a result there would be effectively no difference between marriage and civil partnership within the church. Critics say that the change will force clerics to take a more liberal approach to same-sex relationships. The law would allow ceremonies only among denominations who endorse gay marriage. The Quakers have already campaigned for the change in legislation, and Unitarians and liberal Jews have also already shown their support for the amendment.
Ben Summerskill, Chief Executive of the gay rights campaigning group Stonewall, said that he was “absolutely delighted” with the result. He told The Times: “This was a very important issue of religious freedom because it was quite wrong in our view for the Church of England to be attempting to bully smaller denominations into not celebrating the lifelong relationships of gay people who have very strong religious faith.”
Lord Alli’s cross-party amendment was co-sponsored by Tory finance spokesman Baroness Noakes, retired judge and crossbench peer Baroness Butler-Sloss and crossbencher Baroness Campbell of Surbiton. Supporters included the former Bishop of Oxford, crossbencher Lord Harries of Pentregarth, and Liberal Democrat rabbi Baroness Neuberger. Leading opponents of the amendment included Tory former Cabinet ministers Lord Tebbit and Lord Waddington. Lords Leader Baroness Royall of Blaisdon and Tory equality spokesman Baroness Morris of Bolton, a Roman Catholic, both spoke against the amendment but later abstained.
The amendment has yet to be approved by the Commons, but it is unlikely that MPs would make any significant changes to it. A spokesman for the Government Equalities Office said: “Baroness Royall made the Government’s position clear during the debate; we’re now considering our position and deciding what steps to take next.”
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