British Plan for Gay Marriage Would Exclude Anglican Church

From The New York Times-

The government’s plan to legalize same-sex marriages before a general election in 2015 took an unexpected turn on Tuesday with an announcement that the Church of England, England’s most populous faith, will be forbidden by the new law from marrying same-sex partners, while other religious groups that favor the change, including Quakers, Unitarians and liberal Jews, will be allowed to “opt in” to the practice. 

By specifically excluding Anglicans, the government of Prime Minister David Cameron appeared to have taken a major step back from a change that gay and lesbian groups have hailed as a watershed. Maria Miller, the culture minister, said the aim was to guarantee the Anglican churches that they could not be forced to hold same-sex marriages if litigants went to British and European courts demanding the rights that members of other faiths would enjoy. That possibility helped opponents of the change muster support from a substantial bloc of Conservative lawmakers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/12/world/europe/british-plan-for-gay-marriage-would-exclude-anglican-church.html