Sandi Toksvig condemns Welby for rejecting same-sex marriage
SANDI Toksvig has condemned the Archbishop of Canterbury for reaffirming a 1998 Anglican declaration rejecting same- sex marriage.
The former Great British Bake Off presenter, 64, said the lives of LGBTQ+ people are now ‘at stake’ as she accused Justin Welby of ‘a horrible mistake’.
The Archbishop, 66, confirmed in a letter on Tuesday that the ‘validity’ of Resolution 1.10 from the Lambeth Conference is ‘not in doubt’. The resolution states that marriage is ‘between a man and a woman’, and that same-sex relationships are ‘incompatible with scripture’.
In an open letter published on Twitter, Miss Toksvig, who is gay, questioned the Church of England’s interpretation of Jesus’s views on homosexuality.
She wrote: ‘So, you and your other religious pals got together at the Lambeth Conference and the main takeaway seems to be that gay sex is a sin.
‘It was a sin in 1998 and you just wanted to make clear in 2022 that no one in your finely frocked gang has moved on from that. Seriously, with the state the world is in, that is what you wanted to focus on? You didn’t have other more pressing matters like war or poverty?’
Miss Toksvig, who identifies as a humanist, said: ‘ The lives of LGBTQ+ people are at stake here. I have had several credible death threats over the years. Every one has come from an evangelical Christian. They have wanted to kill me on God’s behalf.’
The Archbishop later responded to an offer from Miss Toksvig for coffee, saying he ‘would love to sit down to talk’. In a letter addressed to the TV star, he wrote: ‘The hatred and threats that you – and so many other LGBTQI+ people – have experienced in the name of Jesus Christ are a sin. I want you to be in no doubt of my position.’ The Lambeth Conference is a meeting of Anglican bishops which is convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury once every ten years.
It is taking place at the University of Kent, Canterbury Cathedral and Lambeth Palace, finishing on Monday.
In a letter to Anglican bishops, the Archbishop said: ‘I write to affirm that the validity of the resolution passed at the Lambeth Conference 1998, 1.10, is not in doubt and that whole resolution is still in existence.’
The Archbishop told the bishops that he could not and would not punish churches for conducting gay marriages.
Miss Toksvig came out as gay in 1994. She entered a civil partnership with her wife Debbie in 2007.