Church of England: Labour’s equality law denies Christians right to oppose homosexuality
Labour’s latest equality law will deprive Christians of the right of free speech, the Church of England has warned.
The Single Equality Bill could force vicars to conduct weddings for sex-change brides, deprive Christians of the right to oppose homosexuality and make church schools promote gay lifestyles in lessons, said the Archbishops’ Council.
Church charities may also be barred from saying grace before meals or displaying crucifixes, it claimed.
The CofE document - endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams - warned that the Bill attempts to suppress freedom of speech and “amounts to an enforced secularism that fails to respect religious belief at all”.
The fierce response is the latest in a series of clashes between religious leaders and the Government over equality rules applying to minority groups whose behaviour Christians have always held as morally wrong.
Churches are already lined up in opposition to the Sexual Orientation Regulations, which came into force earlier this year.
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Daily Mail
