The Archbishop of Canterbury has said boys wearing dresses is ‘not a problem’
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
The Archbishop of Canterbury has said boys wearing dresses to school is “not a problem”.
Earlier this month, Nigel and Sally Rowe said that unless a student at their child’s Church of England school on the Isle of Wight was stopped from wearing dresses, they would file a lawsuit.
The parents also pulled their children, aged six and eight, out of the school because authorities did not meet their demands.
Nigel and Sally Rowe (Christian Concern)
But Archbishop Justin Welby urged them to leave other families and children to their own devices.
Speaking on LBC radio, the most senior cleric in the Church of England called for understanding instead of judgment.
“I would say to them, I don’t think that’s a problem,” he told presenter Nick Ferrari.
“The other family are making up their own minds. The other child is making up their own mind.
“Talk to your child. Help them to understand,” he urged.
“Help them to see what’s going on and to be faithful to their own convictions.”
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The Archbishop also came out against any potential legal challenge being prepared by the Rowes.
“I would say where something like that happens I never see the point in going to law,” he said.
“I think we should try and solve these things without legal involvement, with people getting together around a table, with a mediator, to help them come to a conclusion.”
The Archbishop had been “struggling” with the issue, but said it was more important to teach your own children religious values, rather than push them on other families.
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“Our kids went through all our schooling in the local state schools,” he explained.
“There were bits we liked and bits we didn’t like, and it’s the home where you educate and train people in following faith.”
Earlier this year, the Archbishop wrote for PinkNews to mark the 50th anniversary of partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.
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He told readers that gay people are not more sinful than anyone else, explaining: “Sin is not a characteristic of a particular group of people.
“Sin is the same for all of us.”
