Schedule 4 - Effect on marriage
Gender Recognition Bill [Lords]
5:00 pm
Mr Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)
I put back to the hon. Gentleman the point I made about the Manchester metro church—if that is its correct name—being able to regulate its affairs as it sees fit. Many religious bodies—not exclusively Christian ones, but Muslim as well—wish to exercise their own ethos and pastoral practices when it comes to welcoming and introducing transsexuals into their communities. That should be left to local discretion.
I do not understand how or why that threatens anyone. It is an essential proviso to ensure that the Bill is genuinely fair and has due regard for the sensibilities of people of faith as well as properly protecting the rights and interests of transsexual people. I hope that the amendment will receive support.
There is an issue about whether article 9 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which protects freedom of thought, conscience and religion, could be called into question if the new clause is not included and churches' freedom to decide and implement their own religious beliefs and consciences are called into question by legal cases that are brought as a result of the Bill's provisions.
Amendment No. 45 would add another category to clause 22, under which disclosure may be made legally without the imposition of a £5,000 fine. The clause lists a number of organisations and instances for which that is the case. A week or so ago I spoke to the senior pastor of my church who felt that it was important for pastoral sensitivity and for integrating transsexuals into the church community that he should be able to tell other members of the pastoral team that a new member of the congregation was a transsexual. I have been told that transsexuals often believe that the only way in which they can be fully integrated into a church community is for the knowledge of what they have undergone to be shared with the pastoral team and perhaps members of the wider congregation. That should not be regarded as a threat or a concern. The vast number of pastors that I know would want to do that for the very best of reasons. There is serious concern in faith communities throughout the country that they could be criminalised if they wanted to share that information with other members of their pastoral team.