Church Out of Touch' on Equal Rights for Gays

To say that the Roman Catholic Church and the conservative elements of the Anglican Communion are "out of touch" on equal rights from LGBT citizens is an understatement. The Timesonline has a story that looks at the both Church groups' increasingly out of touch views as society moves onward toward supporting equality. But then, I guess it should be no surprise that the Catholic Church in particular is once again lagging far behind science, common sense, and basic fairness - it is one of the historic hallmarks of Catholicism after all. Yes, the Catholic Church and Anglicans are gaining members in nations with ignorant and uneducated populations, but they are losing relevance in developed countries where the refusal to modernize is taking a toll. Here are highlights from the Times article"

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A revolution in attitudes towards gay men and lesbians is indicated in a poll which shows that a majority of the public want homosexuals to share identical rights to everyone else. Just 40 years after homosexual acts were legalised, and only nine years since the age of consent was equalised, 61 per cent of the public want gay couples to be able to marry just like the rest of the population, not just have civil partnerships.

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But perhaps the most surprising discovery is that 51 per cent of the public want children to be taught in school that gay relationships are of equal value to marriage.

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Overall, 68 per cent of the public back “full equal rights” for gay men and lesbians, suggesting that the Church, the final bastion of formal discrimination, is out of touch with public opinion. Although last month the Church of Scotland upheld the election of the first openly gay minister, the Church of England is still split over the issue. No practising homosexual has been put forward as a candidate for a bishopric since Geoffrey John was proposed, then rejected, as Bishop of Reading.

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The poll, conducted by Populus, was commissioned by The Times to commemorate the Stonewall Riots 40 years ago. A series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations started on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village district of New York. They were triggered by a police raid on the inn, a gay bar run by the Mafia, and are considered a defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and Britain.

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The past decade has seen a flurry of equality legislation — equalising the age of consent at 16, the introduction of civil partnerships and the right to enjoy equal provision of goods and services. Although that was intended to prevent hoteliers or holiday companies discriminating against gays, it also covered public services, so adoption agencies were forced to allow gay couples on to their books.

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It is remarkable how in so many ways the USA remains lagging behind developed countries in Europe - all because of continued religious based hate and bigotry.