Clergy Campaign to Allow Civil Partnerships in Places of Worship

February 25, 2010

Clergy in the UK are campaigning to overturn a ban which prohibits civil partnerships – currently available to the LGBT community – on church grounds, claiming it limits religious sects who want to perform the ceremonies in their places of worship.

Presently, civil partnership must be registered in a secular office and not in a church or synagogue. Clergy have galvanized to amend the limitation in the Equality Bill.

A change to the bill could allow clergy to perform same-sex civil partnerships even if the church forbids it.

The proposal is being put forward by Lord Alli, who is gay.

The clergy argue that three faiths - Liberal Judaism, the Quakers and the Unitarians – should not be prohibited from performing such ceremonies on their own accord.

In a letter to The Times, liberal clergy called for an end to such a limitation.

"It is inconsistent to affirm the spiritual independence of the Church of England and simultaneously to deny the spiritual independence of the three small communities who seek this change for themselves (and not for anybody else)," it said.

"Straight couples have the choice between civil marriage and religious marriage. Gay couples are denied a similar choice. To deny people of faith the opportunity of registering the most important promise of their lives in their willing church or synagogue, according to its liturgy, is plainly discriminatory."

The amendment will be put forward once again on March 2, and supporters are hoping to get the backing of the House of Lords.

"We urge every peer who believes in spiritual independence, or in non-discrimination, to support it,” the letter said.