Married gay canon: Church of England’s punishments are inconsistent and unfair
The first gay clergy to marry in the UK has said that the Church’s treatment of him is inconsistent and unfair.
Hospital chaplain Jeremy Pemberton married his same-sex partner in April despite the Church banning gay clergy from doing so.
He was later stripped of his Permission to Officiate by the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, Richard Inwood, preventing him from taking up another NHS job, but has not had a formal diciplinary procedure..
He told the BBC today: “I think I have been treated inconsistently and don’t think I have been treated fairly in that I have not been put through a disciplinary process.
“Penalties have just been imposed on me by the bishops out of the air and there isn’t any recourse.
“If they really thought I had done something very bad they could have started a procedure against me… but that hasn’t happened.”
“I knew it was going to be controversial but we had planned our wedding several months before the bishop’s pastoral guidance came out.
“In the end we thought to go ahead with what we think is the right thing to do.
“It was a careful, conscientious decision of two people that loved each other and wanted to commit to each other for life.
“We wanted to take up the right that we have now to be married like any other couple.”
Pemberton said earlier this week that he was considering taking up legal action against the Church, after he was subsequently unable to take up another job at the NHS, as he was declined the correct licences.
In addition to Pemberton, London vicar Andrew Cain says he “fully expects” to be punished for marrying last month.
