“A serious error of judgement which colludes with prejudice”
Letter of support for anti-gay Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
London – 6 July 2009
“The Queen has made a serious error of judgement. Her letter of support for the breakaway anti-gay faction of the Church of England is collusion with prejudice. She has insulted lesbian and gay people and breached royal protocol by embroiling herself in an issue of religious and political controversy,” said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
He was referring to today’s report in the Daily Telegraph (see below), which claims that the Queen wrote twice to the homophobic Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), offering her support, expressing her understanding and wishing them success.
“It is very alarming to see the Queen endorse a homophobic grouping within the Church of England. She is taking sides, against gay equality,” added Mr Tatchell.
“Her Majesty is aligning herself with a Christian fundamentalist grouping that is founded almost entirely on its opposition to gay priests and gay human rights. Homophobic prejudice and discrimination is central to its religious ethos.
“Many leading members of FCA believe the civil and criminal law should discriminate against gay people. They do not believe that we are entitled to equal rights.
“That is why they opposed the gay law reforms of the last decade, including an equal age of consent, civil partnerships, protection against discrimination, the repeal of Section 28, fostering and adoption by same-sex couples, and access to fertility treatment for lesbian partners,” said Mr Tatchell.
Further information: Peter Tatchell 020 7403 170
Queen sends ‘supportive’ letters to leaders of church movement that has angered gay campaigners
Daily Telegraph
6 July 2009:
The Queen has sent “supportive” letters to the leaders of a controversial church movement that has angered homosexuality campaigners.
She told the heads of the traditionalist group, formed in response to the liberal direction of some parts of the Anglican Communion, that she “understood their concerns” about the future of the 80 million-strong global church.
The Queen, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has also wished them well with today’s launch in London of a new alliance of evangelical and Anglo-Catholic parishes in Britain and Ireland.
One leading evangelical said: “We found the letters very supportive.”
Her intervention will surprise many because the group, called the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), is feared by some to be a divisive force and one of its senior figures was this weekend accused of being homophobic……
Leading figures in the FCA wrote to the Queen to assure her of their loyalty to the Church of England following last year’s upheavals, and a reply sent on her behalf said she understood their concerns about the future of the Communion.
The clerics wrote again recently, telling the monarch about their plans for tomorrow’s gathering, which will be attended by the bishops of Exeter and Chichester and Rochester as well as conservative archbishops from around the world.
Courtiers wrote back saying that the Queen hoped the event would be successful and memorable.
Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on private correspondence. Royal sources said the Queen was not endorsing the FCA and pointed out that she corresponds with a great number of organisations.