Quakers call for law change on same-sex weddings
By: Michael Brown.
The Quakers, one of the most respected religious movements in the world, reignited debate on same-gender unions last week after agreeing to perform marriage ceremonies for gay couples.
The body, also known as the Religious Society of Friends, already offers religious blessings to couples in civil partnerships.
But last Friday, at its annual meeting at York University, the movement — long seen as a liberal organisation — opted to extend this to same-sex weddings. The Friends will now ask the Government to change the law, which does not recognise gay marriage, to allow Quaker registering officers to register same-gender partnerships in the same way as marriages.
Quakers in Britain spokesman Michael Hutchinson said: “Many have told us that there are homosexual couples who consider themselves to be married and believe this is as much a testimony of divine grace as a heterosexual marriage.” He added: “They miss the public recognition of this in a religious ceremony.” During the York meeting, Quakers spoke candidly about their personal experiences of committed relationships, agreeing that “whereas there was a clear, visible path to celebration and recognition for opposite sex couples” the same was not always true for those in same-sex relationships.
A minute released by the movement said: “This open sharing of personal experience has moved us and added to our clear sense that, 22 years after the prospect was first raised… we are being led to treat same-sex committed relationships in the same way as opposite-sex marriages.”
Such an acceptance meant the Friends were “reaffirming our central insight that marriage is the Lord’s work and we are but witnesses,” said the minute, which added: “The question of legal recognition by the state is secondary.”
Tags: Christianity, Law Moral Ethical