Church of England leans in favor of same-sex marriage

(Wikimedia Commons/Giovanni Dall'Orto)A symbolic marriage cake in favor of allowing gay marriages in Italy not only to heterosexual couples but to lesbian and gay ones as well.

In what is viewed to be a gesture of support for gay marriages, the Church of England's General Synod voted to reject a report which recommended its continued opposition to same-sex union. The ruling drew mixed reactions with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community rejoicing over it, and conservative Christians silently dismayed.

The House of Bishops produced the controversial report, the result of three years of consultations that cost over £300,000. While calling for a "culture of welcome and support" for LGBT people, the report still refused to compromise the Church's stand on marriage.

The report offered the prospect of "maximum freedom" within existing laws and called for "a fresh tone and culture of welcome and support" for gay Christians. However, it maintained the position that holy matrimony should only be between a man and a woman. After four hours of debate, the Clergy voted not to "take note" of the report 100-93.

Campaigners of same-sex marriage like Peter Tatchell cannot help but gloat over their victory. "It is the biggest defeat for the Anglican leadership in many decades," he said, according to BBC News. "Synod refused to endorse the anti-LGBT exclusion and discrimination enshrined in the Bishops' recommendations."

Supporters of the report said those favoring gay marriages may be overstepping their boundaries. "Our role is to hold the Church together and say we can only go as far as the whole church can agree," Rev. Pete Broadbent told the same outlet. "Campaigners are actually wanting us to go further, more hurriedly than we necessarily can."

Following the development, the bishops will have to produce a new report on the matter. However, Broadbent is pessimistic. "We will find this debate a continuing source of disagreement because we haven't coalesced around an end point," the Church of England website quoted him as saying. "We don't yet know the next stage – nor yet when and whether we can bring any further report to synod," he added.

 

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