Historic day welcomed
Same sex marriages became legal in England and Wales on Saturday 29 March
The historical moment when the first same sex marriages became legal in England and Wales on Saturday 29 March was warmly welcomed by many Quakers in Britain. Paul Parker, recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, said it marks a real step forward in equality: ‘Quakers see God in everyone and that leads us to say we’re all born equal and our love is of equal worth too.’ He said that many Quakers have been longing for the day.
Rob and Owen Claxton-Ingham are two British Quakers who welcomed the decision. They said: ‘We’re thrilled that marriage for same sex couples is here at last’. Rob and Owen married in Canada in 2006 because they could not marry in Britain. They met in 1992 at a gathering for young Quakers and ten years later adopted two children, Mark and Rebecca. They now live in Yorkshire.
They described marriage as a spiritual and emotional experience. ‘It was important for us to make that commitment within an act of worship,’ Rob explained.
‘Quakers have been discussing sexuality for fifty years,’ he said. He referred to the decision made at Britain Yearly Meeting in 2009 to seek a change in the law so that same sex marriages could be ‘prepared, celebrated, witnessed, reported to the state, and recognised as legally valid, without further process in the same way as opposite sex marriages are celebrated in Quaker Meetings’. He said that he was ‘delighted the law has caught up.’
Kelvin Beer-Jones, of Rugby Meeting, highlighted a concern when interviewed on the BBC News Channel on Sunday morning. He discussed the barriers that currently exist for couples who already have a civil partnership. They are presently not able to convert it into a marriage.
Paul Parker also reinforced this concern: ‘While looking forward to marrying same sex couples in our Meeting houses this summer, we keep in mind those couples who must wait for secondary legislation to come in before they can convert their civil partnerships to marriage.’
Quakers in Britain have taken up this concern with government ministers, who say they hope legislation will be in place by the end of this year.
The poet RV Bailey also welcomed the moment. In an article in Pink News she wrote: ‘Quakers believe that same sex marriage is important because we believe that we are all equal, and because we believe the quality of the love we offer to our partners is the same as everyone else’s. The true measure of an intimate relationship is its degree of selfless love, a love that isn’t proprietorial or exploitative, but tender, responsible, committed, equal; a love that feeds its transforming messages of hope and happiness benevolently into society day after day.’
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