11
ISSUES: Marriage
Chapter 1: Marriage
Discrimination against same-sex couples
denied religious marriage is endemic, says
York academic
New research by academics at the Universities of York and Leeds highlights the
prevailing extent of discrimination against same-sex couples wanting religious
marriage ceremonies.
P
rofessor
Paul
Johnson,
from York’s Department of
Sociology, has examined the
legal framework in England and Wales
that allows religious organisations to
refuse to marry same-sex couples.
Working incollaborationwithProfessor
Robert Vanderbeck at Leeds, Professor
Johnson found that same-sex couples
are excluded from approximately
40,200 places of worship in which
opposite-sex couples can get married.
Same-sex couples are not permitted to
marry in any of the 17,350 churches of
the Church of England and the Church
in Wales, or in nearly 23,000 other
places of worship, such as Roman
Catholic churches, Islamic mosques,
and Hindu temples.
Although same-sex marriage has been
legal in England and Wales since 2014,
religious organisations are under no
obligation to extend their marriage
services to gay couples.
Opt-in decision
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act
2013 provides the means for organised
religions – other than the Church of
England – to opt in to conduct same-
sex marriages, with the decision left to
individual institutions.
Only 139 places of worship are
registered to perform same-sex
marriage in England and Wales,
meaning approximately 99.5 per
cent do not offer it. Just 23 same-
sex couples had a religious marriage
ceremony in 2014, compared with over
68,000 opposite-sex couples.
Professor Paul Johnson said: “The level
of discrimination is staggering. If you
are a same-sex couple in England and
Wales then you most likely live in a
town where there is no opportunity
to have a religious marriage ceremony.
That means you are completely shut
out of a mainstream cultural practice
that opposite-sex couples take for
granted.
“Recent reports describe same-sex
couples ‘shunning’ religious wedding
ceremonies, but the reality is they are
simply being denied the opportunity.
Parliament has agreed a legislative
framework for marriage that is
allowing extensive discrimination, and
the figures support this.”
Minor faith groups
Professor Robert Vanderbeck said:
“Because none of the mainstream
religious faiths will marry same-sex
couples, such couples need to rely on
minor faith groups, such as Unitarians,
to be willing to marry them. The
problem is, the couple might not share
that faith.”
Church of England Canon law - which
defines marriage as the ‘union of
one man with one woman’ – co-
exists alongside the contrary general
marriage statute law allowing same-
sex marriage, due to the religious
protections included in the 2013 Act.
3 May 2017
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The
above
information
is
reprinted with kind permission
from the University of York. Please
visit
for further
information.
© University of York 2017
