ANGLICAN priests will be able to ‘opt out’ of marrying couples where one of the partners has had a sex change.
The States have agreed a Gender Recognition Law that will let people who undergo sexual reassignment surgery to be legally treated as belonging to the sex of their choosing, not their birth.
The proposals, put to the House by Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur, were uncontroversial until the debate on a late amendment by the Senator to give clergymen the right to refuse to solemnise the wedding ceremony of a marriage involving a ‘transgender’ person.
Members, led by Deputy Montfort Tadier, argued against the amendment, saying that it effectively let the clergy choose to refuse to abide by the law, and refuse to recognise someone’s new gender – making a mockery of the legislation. ‘This goes against the spirit of the law,’ he said.
• Picture: The Dean, the Very Rev Bob Key
