Sir Elton John: Government ‘messed up’ civil partnership conversion
Sir Elton John has lambasted the government for “messing up” the conversion of civil partnerships into marriages.
Sir Elton told Sky News that his wedding his wedding to David Furnish, previously planned for this summer, will now be held next year because of the government “messing up”.
The government announced last week that couples will only be able to convert partnerships into a marriage from December 10 this year.
Sir Elton said: “We can’t get married this yearbecause we had a civil partnership. I think the government kind of messed that one up. We can’t do it until next year”
“However, when we do do, it will be very quiet and off the cuff – we had our big shebang when we had our civil union.”
He also said that if Jesus were alive today, he would be in favour of equal rights for gay people.
He said: “If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was, and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen.
“He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together and that is what the church should be about.”
Sir Elton also waded into the Church of England’s current crisis over gay clergy marrying, describing the rules as “old and stupid things”.
Canon Jeremy Pemberton, who married his same-sex partner in April, was stripped of his Permission to Officiate, while London vicar Andrew Cain says he “fully expects” to be punished for marrying last week.
Sir Elton praised Pope Francis for his work reforming the Catholic church, claiming he had “stripped it down to the bare bones and said it’s all basically about love and inclusiveness”.
He added: “That has to be encouraged by the Church of England as well.”
Watch the clip below:
