Archbishop Welby is Struggling to Support Equality
Archbishop Welby is Struggling to Support
Equality
He supports opposite-sex
civil partnerships
Call for an
apology for centuries of church
homophobia
Dialogue urged with
other LGBT campaigners in the UK &
Africa
London - 18 April
2013
“Archbishop Welby is clearly
struggling to reconcile his support for loving, stable
same-sex relationships with his opposition to same-sex
marriage. I got the impression that he wants to support gay
equality but feels bound by church tradition. He accepts
that discrimination is not a Christian value but can’t
bring himself to state publicly that banning gay couples
from getting married is discrimination and
wrong.
“The Archbishop told me ‘gay people are
not intrinsically different from straight people’ but
there is an ‘intrinsic difference in the nature of
same-sex relationships’ and this is a sufficient reason to
deny gay couples the right to marry, even in civil
ceremonies in register offices. When pressed to say why this
‘intrinsic difference’ justified banning same-sex
marriage he merely replied: ‘They are just
different.’
“I am hopeful that in time the
Archbishop will resolve his moral dilemmas and encourage the
church to move closer to gay equality. He struck me as a
genuine, sincere, open-minded person, willing to listen and
rethink his position,” said Peter Tatchell, Director of
the human rights organisation, the Peter Tatchell
Foundation.
Mr Tatchell was commenting in his
meeting today at Lambeth Palace with the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Justin Welby, leader of the world’s 78
million-strong Anglican Communion.
At the meeting,
Mr Tatchell urged the Archbishop to “embrace a new
historic compromise and rapprochement with the gay
community:” that the church can continue to
believe that homosexuality is wrong but that it will agree
that homophobic discrimination is also wrong - and actively
oppose it.
“The Archbishop did not accept that
the ban on same-sex civil marriage amounted to
discrimination. He told me: ‘I don’t accept the word
discrimination,’” said Mr Tatchell.
Welby said
he was “apprehensive” and “cautious” about the
“consequences of redefining marriage,” adding that he
was unconvinced that it would be to “the advantage of
society.”
However he added that in future
“marriage may evolve.”
Justin Welby said he
mostly opposes the government’s same-sex marriage bill
because it is a “bad bill”. He supports a
proposed amendment to open up civil partnerships to
opposite-sex couples, which is something Peter
Tatchell has campaigned for ever since the Civil Partnership
Act was legislated in 2004.
“Parliament has a
right to legislate same-sex marriage”... (and) the church
has a right to oppose it... I am in favour of the state
recognising same-sex relationships but not in favour of
redefining marriage,” said Welby.
Mr Tatchell
urged Justin Welby to “apologise on behalf of the Church
of England for the centuries of homophobic persecution it
inflicted on gay people. If not an apology, then some
expression of remorse and regret.”
The Archbishop
replied: “I hear what you say. I will need to think about
that.”
Mr Tatchell also urged the Archbishop to
meet other LGBT organisations and campaigners, from within
the UK and in Africa.
“I don’t represent all
LGBT people. It is important that a wide range of LGBT
voices are heard; especially in countries like Nigeria and
Uganda where the Anglican church is actively stirring
anti-gay hatred and supporting repressive homophobic
legislation.”
The meeting between Welby
and Tatchell was the first ever meeting between an
international religious leader and a leading international
gay rights campaigner.
The meeting was
offered by the Archbishop in response to the Open Letter
that Mr Tatchell wrote to him on 20 March. See the letter
here:
http://petertatchellfoundation.org/religion/open-letter-justin-welby
Archbishop
Welby replied:
“Dear Mr Tatchell, Thank you
for your very thoughtful letter. It requires much thought
and the points it makes are powerful. I would like to
explain what I think to you without the mediation of the
press, and listen to you in return.”
Mr
Tatchell’s Open Letter criticised Justin Welby as
“homophobic” for supporting a legal ban on same-sex
civil marriage. He also criticised the Anglican Communion
for colluding with local dioceses in Africa that endorse the
persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
people in countries like Uganda and
Nigeria.
Commenting further on the Archbishop’s
stance on LGBT issies, Mr Tatchell
said:
“Discrimination is not a Christian
value. The Archbishop should therefore oppose all
discrimination against gay people, including the ban on
same-sex civil marriage.
“While the church can
maintain its refusal to conduct same-sex religious
marriages, it should cease opposing the marriage of gay
couples by civil authorities in register
offices.
“The church is currently in the
forefront of attempts to force the government to abandon its
plans to legalise same-sex civil marriage. It is actively
supporting the current ban. This is homophobic
discrimination.
“I am asking Archbishop Welby to
make a clear distinction between what he and the church
believe is morally wrong and the law of the
land.
“While the Archbishop is entitled to reject
homosexuality as unacceptable, in a liberal democracy he is
not entitled to insist that his religious beliefs are
legislated into law by banning same-sex civil marriage
ceremonies.
“The Church of England’s
opposition to same-sex civil marriage is a direct and
un-Christian attack on the human rights of gay people.
“While Anglicans have a right
to refuse to conduct religious gay marriages, they should
halt their campaign against gay marriages hosted by civil
authorities. The church should have no jurisdiction or veto
over marriages in register offices.
"This
is the first time any Archbishop has formally met me. Even a
liberal like Rowan Williams never welcomed me to Lambeth
Palace. Justin’s invitation is progress.
“In
1997, ten of us from the gay rights group OutRage! scaled
the walls of Lambeth Palace, hid among the roses and jumped
out to confront the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George
Carey, as he entertained 16 Anglican primates in the garden.
We were protesting over his refusal to dialogue with the gay
community and his opposition to an equal age of consent,
fostering by gay couples and the legal recognition of
same-sex relationships. This time I’m going to Lambeth
Palace through the front door at the Archbishop’s
invitation. It makes a nice change," said Mr
Tatchell.
ENDS