British gays can now 'get married' in churches
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Same-sex couples are to be allowed to hold civil partnership ceremonies in churches and other places of worship in England and Wales.
Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said no religious group would be forced to host them, but those who wished to could apply by the end of the year.
The Church of England said it had "no intention" of blessing gay couples.
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell welcomed the move, but regretted it did not allow religious same-sex marriages.
The announcement was made in a written response to a consultation.
Ms Featherstone, a Liberal Democrat MP, said: "The government is advancing equality for LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual) people and ensuring freedom of religion for people of all faiths.
"No religious group will be forced to host a civil partnership registration, but for those who wish to do so this is an important step forward."
Civil partnership ceremonies are currently entirely secular.
Marriage between people of the same gender is not legal in the UK, but civil partnerships were introduced in 2005 to give couples the same legal protection as if they were married.
'Deviation'
A Church of England spokesman said it had no intention of allowing civil partnerships to be registered in its churches.
"The House of Bishops' statement of July 2005 made it clear that the Church of England should not provide services of blessing for those who register civil partnerships and that remains the position," he said.
However, the spokesman said the Church would study the draft regulations to check that ministers had delivered "genuine religious freedom" by way of denominational opt-in, and if so, there would no reason to oppose the regulations.
The Roman Catholic Church has long held that homosexuality is a "deviation" and is not expected to agree to same-sex ceremonies.
The legislation would also cover synagogues and mosques, although homosexual relationships are forbidden under Islam and Orthodox Judaism.
However, leaders of Liberal Judaism, the Quakers and the Unitarians have in the past expressed interest in registering to hold partnership ceremonies on their premises if the law changed.
Mr Tatchell said it was "ironic" that the government was allowing civil partnerships in religious premises, but continuing to ban religious gay marriages even if a faith organization wanted to conduct them.
"We believe religious organizations should be permitted by law to perform both same-sex religious marriages and same-sex civil partnerships, if they wish to do so. The current blanket bans must go."
He said it was an "infringement of religious freedom" and accused the equalities minister of supporting discrimination
The Office Of National Statistics reported 6,385 civil partnerships by same-sex couples in the UK in 2010.
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British gay couples are still 2nd class citizens, no matter how they dress it up.
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I can think of only one reason why people would want to get married in a church ― because thats how people have always been doing it. If I were to guess at a purely non-dynamic reason, that would take the cake. The new liberties gained by Gay society should be taken advantage of by thinking outside of the box and choosing other locations, which are more deserving.
Getting married in a church, the symbolic center and originator of hatred and discrimination against Gay society, is a bit like a Gamblers Anonymous group having their chapter meetings at Caeser's Palace. If it's a question of environment ― churches are almost always of lavish surroundings, and this may be an influence in their choice of location ― they are not the only game in town, certainly not in a country like the United Kingdom, where every other building impresses with its old world style and charm (at least to an American like myself).
Gay marriage is a marvelously beautiful and unconventional thing. The location of the ceremony should be as well.
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The UK has strict rules on where you can have your ceremony, regardless if you are hetero or gay, and every place that is allowed needs a very expensive license to have it on the premises. This means you can' really go too crazy on where you have it.
Not all churches are homophobic, as the article show. More than a dozen church organizations support gays and gay marriage, but are banned by law from doing them under the guise of religious freedom.
The other aspect is, gays are banned from marriage FULL STOP, not just religious ones. So it's not just about religion, as we're banned from secular marriage as well.
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You know, I don't think that the only reason gay people get married is to hold with tradition. I think that's maybe a reason for some, but more importantly I think there are a lot of gay people who are religious. A gay church in Dallas, Texas, Cathedral of Hope, paid for my college tuition, and I live in Alaska! They have enough partitioners donating money that they could afford to do that. The Metropolitan Community Church, which caters to the GLBT population, is really growing, and there are so many denominations of traditional Christianity that are now accepting us more and more, such as the Episcopalians, ELCA Lutherans, some Protestant churches, etc.
I just think it's messed up that the UK won't give it's GLBT citizens equal marriage. WTF is with that? At least it's better than in the US.
