In a dramatic development, the House of Lords has voted to allow the use of religious premises and religious language in same-sex partnerships.
Sitting yesterday evening (2 March), peers voted in favour of the proposal by 95 votes to 21, despite opposition from the government and several Church of England bishops.
Good news and about time. Why should Anglican bishops exercise control over the polity and practices of other denominations?
Links to other stories about the vote can be found at The Lead.
Still has to pass the House of Common though it was good to see the opposing bishops squashed. Definitely time to disestablish the Church in England.
ReplyDeleteI found it somewhat amusing that one of the arguments against more or less boiled down to "we can't prevent priests in our own church from conducting these ceremonies without the help of the government".
Good news indeed.
ReplyDeleteErp, the bill will pass the Commons easily, won't it?
ReplyDeleteI believe that I wrote about the silly argument from the bishops that passage of the bill will put them under stress. My heart bleeds for them.
It will pass the Commons as long as no back deals are done (e.g., delays, a general election called, etc).
ReplyDeleteNote that English law is a mish mash as regards to marriage even before talking about civil partnerships. The rules that apply to the CoE are different from the rules that apply to Quakers and to Jews (special rules apply to them dating back to the 1700s when only CoE, Jewish, and Quaker weddings were legal), and to other religious bodies and to marriage at a registrar office.
There was a good turnout of Peers for the vote especially given the hour. I did think only in England given that the person moving the amendment, Waheed Alli, is Muslim, his remote ancestors are from India but his parents were born in Trinidad and Guyana and definitely not rich. He never went to University and yet he was made a life peer at the age of 34 (he did make a fortune first).
A step forward on this issue is always good news. Even though it had to happen sometime.
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