Sir, - After Some Issues in Human Sexuality and the Windsor report, there is
consistency in the House of Bishops' preparing a draft proposal statement on
civil partnerships (
News, 3 June). But the logic is depressing and relentless.
A civil partnership is not a marriage, but, like a marriage, it is cause for
congratulation. Family and friends gather in support, and, after planning and
preparation, two people enter a new state of life together. But, instead of the
wine of celebration, the Church proposes to offer the water of discipline.
My heart sinks at the thought of the stiff and embarrassing atmosphere that
will pervade the episcopal interview. It will be as if the quality, longevity
and uniqueness of the same-sex relationship, all its beauty and passion, were
as nothing, and the detail of sexual activity will be everything. Were marriage
preparation conducted with such an imbalance, the interviewer would be thought
unhealthily obsessed.
If I were a diocesan bishop, I should be more concerned to know why my
lesbian and gay clergy didn't avail themselves of the Civil Partnerships Act.
Without the dignity, recognition and protection the legislation accords to
same-sex relationships, partners leave each other dangerously exposed to being
set aside in matters of financial security and life-and-death decisions, and an
opportunity for a role model of fidelity is missed.
"Allowed to
register"? We should be positively encouraged.
DAVID ROGERS
St
Leonard's Vicarage, Beoley, Redditch B98 9AR