May: Church should reflect on gay marriage

The Church of England should consider its stance on same-sex couples not being allowed to marry in church, the Prime Minister has said. Theresa May said her father, the Rev Hubert Brasier, would have supported church blessings for gay couples, and that the Church should “reflect”.

THE Church of England should “reflect” on its stance on same-sex couples not being allowed to marry in church, the Prime Minister has said.

Theresa May also said her father, the Rev Hubert Brasier, would have supported church blessings for gay couples. In an interview for LBC radio station, the Prime Minister said she believed her father “very much valued the importance of relationships, of people affirming those relationships and of seeing stability in relationships and people able to be together with people that they love”.

Asked whether she would like to see the law “evolve”, Mrs May said it “had to be a matter for the Church”, adding: “The Church of England has come a distance in terms of looking at these issues, and obviously they will want to reflect as attitudes will generally change as society changes.”

Church of England priests are currently not allowed to marry gay couples in church or bless same-sex marriages.

A spokesman for the Church of England said: “Parliament understood that it was an important aspect of religious freedom to allow Christian churches and other faiths to decide whether or not they could embrace same-sex marriage.”