At a Scottish Parliament evidence session on the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill yesterday, the Rev Alan Hamilton of the Church of Scotland warned MSPs that the Church would consider whether to stop conducting marriages altogether in order to protect against any requirement to conduct same-sex marriages.
The Equality Network, the Scottish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality charity, has said that there is “no reason why any religious body would need to stop conducting marriages” in response to same-sex marriage legislation.
They also point out that under the new law, religious bodies will be free to choose whether to not to conduct same-sex marriages and no religious body will be required.
Tom French, Policy Coordinator for the Equality Network, said:
“Scotland’s equal marriage bill provides strong and robust protections for religious bodies that do not support same-sex marriage. Bodies that want to conduct same-sex marriages will have to opt-in and those that don’t won’t have to. Given the clear protections in place there is simply no reason why any religious body would need to stop conducting marriages.”
“It is also important to recognise that the protections in the Bill are underpinned by the European Convention on Human Rights, which enshrines religious freedom. Almost every country surrounding Scotland already has same-sex marriage, and in none of those countries has any religious body ever been forced to conduct same-sex marriages against its will. There is no reason to think that Scotland would somehow be a special case.”
Under the new law, any religious bodies that want to conduct same-sex marriages, such as the Quakers, Unitarians, and Liberal Judaism, will have to opt-in. Those bodies that do not want to, such as the Church of Scotland, can simply choose not to do so.
The protections provided in the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill will be underpinned by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights which enshrines religious freedom.
Human rights experts including Amnesty International, and top lawyer Karon Monaghan QC agree the protections are clear and unbreakable.
Nine European countries surrounding Scotland already have same-sex marriages, and while such marriages have been conducted in other countries for over a decade, no religious body has ever been required to conduct them.
You must be logged in to post a comment.