Activists and conservatives round on the Church for its failings over homosexuality

‘Yet again the LGBT community who are the pawn... where their hopes are dashed’

A ROW over homosexuality erupted at General Synod after both conservative and LGBT activists accused the Church of England of “kicking [the] can down the road”.

Leading bishops and decision-makers within the Church are currently debating issues about human identity, relationships, marriage and sex as part of the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) project. The project was set up in 2017 and yesterday the General Synod, the church’s legislative body, was updated on its progress.

For decades, the church has been divided over how to deal with LGBT issues and rights, and the House of Bishops is set to approve the final LLF document next month. However, it emerged during a Synod debate that little progress has since been made. The admission sparked frustration from all corners of the Church who share diametrically opposed views on LGBT rights.

Jayne Ozanne, a prominent LGBT campaigner and former member of the Archbishops Council, accused the Church and its pastoral advisory group of “kicking the can down the road” when it comes to LGBT rights.

She told the assembly room in Westminster: “Yet again the LGBT community are the pawn and putting themselves in a place of unsafety where their hopes are dashed.”

In response, Sir Tony Baldry, the exconservative MP and a former second church estates commissioner, criticised the lack of unity over the issue. “Is it going to be possible to find a piece of carpet on which we can all stand?” he said.

Meanwhile, the Most Rev Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, spoke during a debate on Windrush as he apologised for the institutional racism of the Church and drew comparisons with racism towards the Windrush generation, and racism towards Jewish people in Nazi Germany.

The Synod voted unanimously to apologise for conscious and unconscious racism experienced by BAME Anglicans in 1948 and subsequent years.