Welby defends ‘wicked’ stance on gay marriage

While the Most Rev Justin Welby said he would stand by his decision to vote against same-sex marriage legislation, he said that opposing the move could be seen by some as akin to “racism and other forms of gross and atrocious injustice”.

Speaking at the official opening of the Evangelical Alliance’s new premises in King’s Cross, London, he said that today’s society had evolving views about sexuality and many younger people thought that opposition to gay marriage was “plain wrong”.

The Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act received royal assent in July and gay couples in England and Wales will be able to wed at some point next year.

The legislation had a tortuous passage through Parliament, with staunch opposition from many Conservative backbenchers and religious groups.

The Archbishop said: “What I voted against was what seemed to me to be the rewriting the nature of marriage in a way that I have to say within the Christian tradition and within scripture and within our understanding is not the right way to deal with the very important issues that were attempted to be dealt with in that Bill.”

However, he added: “We have to face the fact that the vast majority of people under 35 not only think that what we’re saying is incomprehensible but also think that we’re plain wrong and wicked and equate it to racism and other forms of gross and atrocious injustice.”