At its annual meeting, the Church of
Scotland's general assembly approved a motion to draft new laws that
will allow ministers to marry gay and lesbian couples.
The motion, introduced by the Rev.
Bryan Kerr, cleared the body with a 345 to 170 vote on Saturday, The
Guardian reported.
The church's legal questions committee
will draft the law and report back in two years.
Under the plan as outlined in the
motion, ministers and deacons will be allowed to marry same-sex
couples “if they wish.”
Last year, the Scottish Episcopal
Church became the first church in the UK to allow gay couples to
marry in church.
The Rev. Tom Gordon said before the
vote that he has two daughters, both of whom are married.
“I have one gay daughter in a
same-sex marriage,” Gordon said. “When my older daughter got
married, she had a choice – to ask me to conduct her service as a
minister or for me to walk her down the aisle as her dad. But when
my younger daughter got married, she had no such choice.”
“Give people a choice: allow their
marriage to be conducted by a minister. With God's blessing,” he
added.
The Church of Scotland opposed
extending marriage rights to gay couples when it was being debated.
Scotland introduced civil partnerships for gay couples in 2005 and
marriage in late 2014.