Should Same-Sex Marriages Take Place In A Church?
Nick Clegg may have caused another Coalition row by saying that same-sex couples should be ahev the right to marry in a church.
The Liberal Democrats leader added that religious organisations should be free to conduct same-sex marriages if they so wish to.
He said, “I think that in exactly the same way that we shouldn't force any church to conduct gay marriage, we shouldn't stop any church that wants to conduct gay marriage.
“I don't see why two individuals who love each other and want to show commitment to each other should not be able to do so in a way that is socially recognised as being marriage.”
Nick Clegg’s comments are thought to anger Tory MPs and religious leaders as they go further than the plans announced by the Government earlier this year.
Civil partnerships that were introduced in 2005 gave same-sex couples similar legal right to those of married couples, but the government hope to allow them to make vows and declare themselves legally married by the next election in 2015.
Ministers have said that the ban on same-sex marriages in a religious service will remain in place, but there are fears that the European courts will challenge this.
Britain’s most senior Quaker from the Society of Friends, Paul Parker, told the Daily Mail, “'Quakers welcome Nick Clegg's support for our position on this.
“We would say all committed relationships are of equal worth. We have recognised same-sex couples as married since 2009; we want same-sex couples to be free to marry in their Quaker meetings in the same way as opposite-sex couples.”
Do you think same-sex weddings should be allowed to take place in churches?
Cara Mason @FemaleFirst_UK
Tagged in Marriage Nick Clegg