19/01/2023
The Guardian reports that in the coming week, the General Synod of the Church of England will discuss and debate whether to allow priests to conduct samesex marriage ceremonies. Both progressive and conservative wings of the church have been lobbying hard over the issue. For LGBTQIA members of the Church of England, which is the established church, as set up by King Henry VIII after the break of Protestant England with Rome in the sixteenth century, there is hope that there will be some reform. However, the Guardian religious affairs correspondents believe that some kind of compromise is likely, similar to that over women priests, who have been permitted since the 1990s. In this, clergy and congregrations who welcome samesex marriage will be allowed to conduct services, but conservative factions will be permitted to dissent. According to 2022 polling commissioned by the Ozanne Foundation, which campaigns for equality, 55% of people in England who identify as Anglican believe same-sex marriage is “right”. Younger people are more likely to share this view. Just 29% think it’s “wrong”.
https://ozanne.foundation/project/same-sex-marriage-research-2022/
