Quakers welcome debate on equality
Quakers in Britain welcomed the decision yesterday, Tuesday, by the House of Lords to pass an amendment to the Equality Bill, which will lift the ban on religious buildings being used in civil partnerships in England and Wales.
Lord Waheed Alli (Labour), Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss (Cross Bencher) and Baroness Jane Campbell of Surbiton (Cross Bencher) tabled amendment 53 to the Equality Bill at Report Stage. There were 95 votes for the amendment and 21 against.
The restrictions on civil partnerships had been introduced by the Civil Partnerships Act 2004. The amendment provided for an order-making power for registering religious premises for the conduct of civil partnerships. It made clear that nothing in the amendment could compel religious organisations to conduct civil partnerships against their conscience.
Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Judaism had lobbied peers to support the amendment.
Gillian Ashmore, Recording Clerk for Quakers in Britain said: “Current law provides for opposite sex couples to marry in either a religious or civil ceremony as they choose. But for same sex couples there is no such choice: civil partnership ceremonies cannot use religious language or take place in religious buildings. The amendment deserved to succeed on the grounds of both equality and religious liberty.”
She continued: “Waheed Alli’s amendment to the Equality Bill is a sensible and timely change to the law. Same sex couples who wish to give legal effect to their committed relationships will now be able to do so in a worshipful setting in their meeting houses, synagogues, churches or mosques. It is a significant step towards the recognition of full equality of same sex and heterosexual relationships. Waheed Alli’s amendment goes a long way towards translating the decision of Quakers in Britain at York into legislative form. We look forward to taking part in further consultations with the government to flesh out the detail of how these proposals will work in practice.”
At their Yearly Meeting in York in 2009, Quakers sought a change in the law so that same sex marriages can be prepared, celebrated, witnessed, reported to the state, and recognised as legally valid, without further process, in the same way as opposite sex marriages are celebrated in Quaker meetings. Quakers consider that they should be able to follow the insights of their membership in celebrating life-long committed relationships between a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, in exactly the same way as they currently recognise the marriage of opposite sex couples.
Ends
Notes to editor:
- Approximately 25,000 people attend Quaker Meetings for Worship in Great Britain, and there are more than 470 Meetings.
- Quakers are known formally as the Religious Society of Friends.
- The present amendment is purely permissive and explicitly provides, “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Act places an obligation on religious organisations to host civil partnerships if they do not wish to do.” The clause permits religious organisations who wish to celebrate civil partnerships to do so but does not require any organisation to do that which it feels is contrary to its religious doctrine or conscience.
Media Information
Anne van Staveren
0207 663 1048
07958 009703
annev@quaker.org.uk
www.quaker.org.uk
