Gay Anglicans win right to wed in church

SAME-SEx couples yesterday won the right to marry in Anglican churches in Britain for the first time.

The Scottish Episcopal Church’s decision makes it the first major UK church to open its doors for gay weddings.

But the move, approved by a vote at its synod, puts it in conflict with its Church of England sister south of the border.

The Scottish Episcopal Church, with 80,000 members, has long taken a liberal stand on sexuality while the CofE struggles with division on the issue.

Clergy who do not wish to conduct same- sex weddings have a conscience clause letting them opt out. The first ceremonies are set to go ahead in Scottish parish churches this autumn.

It puts pressure on the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, who failed to achieve a compromise on gay rights between liberal and conservative wings in the CoE this year. A CofE spokesman said: ‘The Church of England is unable by law to marry couples of the same sex and the teaching of the Church of England remains unchanged.’

But many of the 80million Anglicans outside Britain and North America are deeply opposed to gay rights. The group representing conservative Anglicans, Gafcon, condemned the Scots yesterday, appointing a ‘missionary bishop’, the Rev Canon Andy Lines, to lead Scottish Anglicans still opposed to same-sex marriage.