‘Blessing’ LGBT+ people instead of allowing equal marriage is just the latest round of Church of England can-kicking – so I’m challenging it
The Church of England currently teaches two totally incompatible visions of God. On the one hand, there is a gospel of grace, where the love of God is unconditional and available to all. On the other, there is a God who places restrictions on that grace and asks the church to act as the gatekeeper. The latter teaches that if someone like me, a lesbian, has sex then I will go to hell – a truth as central to this branch of faith as believing in the virgin birth or the resurrection.
For years, the church’s solution to this contradiction has been to kick the can marked “LGBT+ relationships” down the road, and the “historic” proposals announced last month on sexuality were no exception. They continue to embed discrimination by refusing to recognise civil marriage as “holy matrimony” and only offer token prayers of blessing to gay couples, cunningly blessing the individuals rather than their union. There are also many shades of grey – especially as to whether our unions can actually now be consummated. All this from our established church, the official state church that operates thanks to delegated powers from parliament, which continues to be allowed to discriminate against those it serves.
Jayne Ozanne is director of Ozanne Foundation, founder of the Ban Conversion Therapy coalition and an elected member of the General Synod
