Cardinal Slams British Gay Marriage Proposals

Same-sex marriage has finally hit the headlines properly in Britain but it's mainly because of the strong criticism from Catholic Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who labelled same-sex marriage as "madness", calling it "a grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right" in an article in British newspaper, The Sunday Telegraph.

Cardinal O'Brien is one of the most influential religious men in Britain today. As head of the Catholic Church of Scotland, he also slammed Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's support of marriage equality, claiming that the coalition government is attempting to "redefine reality". Reality - in this case - being in the loosest sense of the word; the word of the Bible. His statements have been echoed and supported by a lot of conservatives, however Mr Cameron has been showing his support for marriage equality for a long time now, stating back in October 2011 that he supports gay marriage because he believes it's the right thing to do, during a Conservative party conference.

And to anyone who has reservations, I say: Yes, it's about equality, but it's also about something else: commitment. Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other. So I don't support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I'm a Conservative.

British Prime Minister David Cameron (C)
Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, October 2011
Source: Speech Transcript on theguardian.co.uk

These statements by the Cardinal are some of the strongest yet against the marriage equality proposals which are due to be released later this month by minister Lynne Featherstone and to be considered by the House of Commons. David Cameron announced the outlining of these proposals in the speech he gave back in October at his party's conference. It's a good sign for the LGBT community, and something that surprised quite a lot of people, especially since the proposals were coming from a Conservative politician. The appearance of the topic in the news was probably thanks to the Liberal Democrats - the second party making up the coalition government - although Mr Cameron's personal opinions certainly played a role in his speech.

In his article, Cardinal O'Brien claimed that "all the legal rights of marriage are already available to homosexual couples" through domestic partnerships - a statement that is not true. He also said that "this proposal is not about rights, but rather is an attempt to redefine marriage for the whole of society at the behest of a small minority of activists".

"Same-sex marriage would eliminate entirely in law the basic idea of a mother and a father for every child. It would create a society which deliberately chooses to deprive a child of either a mother or a father.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, head of the Catholic Church of Scotland

He also pulled out Rick Santorum's favourite argument of polygamy saying that "if marriage can be redefined so that it no longer means a man and a woman but two men or two women, why stop there? Why not allow three men or a woman and two men to constitute a marriage, if they pledge their fidelity to one another?" He also continued to say, "in Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, marriage is defined as a relationship between men and women". But as we all know, the LGBT community is not protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights despite the extermination of homosexual men in the nazi concentration camps, which was written in 1948 - a period where homosexuality was seen as a disease by the large majority of the population. Now we know that's not true, so the UN need to redefine the basic human rights declaration - something they've been working on for a long time.

Earlier in the week, a spokeswoman for the British Home Office defended the plans following criticism from Conservative MP Peter Bone, who called them "completely nuts". The spokeswoman said "if a couple love each other" and want to commit to a life together they should "have the option of a civil marriage irrespective of their sexual orientation".

The Coalition for Marriage, a British organization against same-sex marriage, has also slammed the government for their plans and have shared videos on their YouTube channel in which they voice their opinions on national television or in speeches. The clips also include the opinions of celebrities, politicians and religious people who support "traditional marriage", including gay actor Christopher Biggins.

A Sky News poll on 20th February 2012 suggested that 62% of Britons are against same-sex marriage.