Report on Same-Sex Marriage and Places of Worship in England and Wales

CRPL member Professor Robert Vanderbeck was involved in a research project on the solemnization of same-sex marriage in places of worship in England and Wales. The report with the research findings was recently released.

The report highlights the disadvantage faced by same-sex couples seeking a religious marriage ceremony. It shows that same-sex couples are prohibited from marrying in approximately 40,000 places of worship that permit different-sex couples to marry, and there are only 182 places of worship registered for same-sex marriage. The majority of places of worship that permit same-sex marriage only carry out a small number of ceremonies, with roughly half having actually married a gay couple.

During debates over the enactment of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, considerable attention was given to the need for protections for individuals who do not want to participate in same-sex weddings — as ministers, or choristers, for example. However, the report shows that very few people refuse to participate and therefore require these legal protections.

Study co-author, Robert Vanderbeck, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Leeds and a member of the CRPL, carried out the project together with researchers at the University of York. According to Vanderbeck, “Although many claims have been made about how the introduction of same-sex marriage would affect religious groups that offer it, this study provides the first systematic glimpse of what is actually happening on the ground in churches and other places of worship."

The report found that many places of worship say that registering for same-sex marriage has produced positive benefits within a congregation. These include strengthening the solidarity of existing members, supporting existing LGBT members, and attracting new members. The research report further shows that among places of worship that have performed a same-sex marriage, three-quarters have provided a religious marriage ceremony to a same-sex couple that has not previously worshipped there, indicating that they welcome couples who are excluded from marrying in their own place of worship.

The report Religious marriage of same-sex couples : A report on places of worship in England and Wales registered for the solemnization of same-sex marriage is available on the White Rose Repository.