Current Affairs

Christian group claims gay marriage led to surge in people trying to get married to themselves

Mar 23 2017
Written by Nick Duffy

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a pink background.

A conservative Christian pressure group has published claims that equal marriage has led to a surge in people trying to get married to themselves.

The extraordinary claim comes from the Coalition For Marriage (C4M) and anti-LGBT evangelical group Anglican Mainstream, after the Office for National Statistics confirmed data on the first same-sex weddings in England and Wales in 2014.

The C4M release, published on the Anglican Mainstream website, claimed that equal marriage has been a “flop”, though same-sex weddings account for 2% of all weddings in the data period.

It states: “Few same-sex marriages have actually taken place. But the shockwaves of the momentous decision to redefine marriage continue to reverberate around our culture.

“Thanks to the redefinition of marriage all manner of future redefinitions are now being advocated (…) now there are reports of the rise of ‘sologamy’ – people seeking to marry themselves.

“There’s no doubt sologamy is only promoted by a few individuals. Apparently ‘the idea is to give yourself a commitment that values self-love and self-compassion’.

“This may give someone their day in the limelight, but it is a million miles away from the self-giving, outward-looking nature of marriage.

“Only true marriage binds people and society together, providing children with a mother and father who are committed to each other for life.”

The only incidence of such a wedding we could remember is a 2010 episode of Fox TV show Glee, where coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) marries herself.
Christian group claims gay marriage led to surge in people trying to get married to themselves
They claimed: “C4M always said there was no great demand for redefining marriage. Our May 2012 poll found that only a minority (39 per cent) of people identifying as LGB thought same-sex marriage was a priority.

“Now the official figures have exposed all the media fanfare and celebration as hollow bluster.”

Speaking to PinkNews, an Anglican Mainstream official insisted the piece represented the Coalition for Marriage and not Anglican Mainstream, though it was published on the Anglican Mainstream website.

They did not, however, remove the piece from their website.

Anglican Mainstream is influential within the Church of England’s evangelical wing despite its ties to the anti-LGBT lobby.

The group has previously attended events alongside gay ‘cure’ activists, while an Anglican Mainstream spokesperson claimed God would be opposed to banning gay conversion therapy

Canon Dr Chris Sugden of Anglican Mainstream recently linked homosexuality to paedophilia in a BBC interview.