The British House of Commons has overwhelmingly approved the “Marriage (same-sex couples) bill” that legalizes homosexual marriage for the first time in the UK. After this step, the law will return to the Commission and then back to Westminster, to be approved within 5 to 6 months. The law will also allow couples who are already form a civic union to move on to marriage the churches who wish to do so to celebrate same-sex marriages with civic importance, and transsexuals to change their legal gender, even if they are already married. Except for the Anglican Church. The law will expressly state that the Anglican Church can not celebrate same-sex marriages, in order to avoid claims of individual congregations. In addition, the Parliament will have to change the 2010 Equality Act to prevent gay couples from having recourse to national or European courts, with the argument of discrimination, to force the Anglican Church to marry them with a religious rite.
 
On this occasion the Bishops‘ Conference of England and Wales issued a “Statement,” deploring that by accepting these modifications, the law and the common understanding of marriage will undergo further changes in the coming years. This bill not only changes the definition of the basic social institution; there is also a great risk of violating the individual’s right to conscientious objection and the rights of churches to follow their moral teaching and sacramental practice. Finally, the interference in the autonomy of the Church of England (Anglicans) will serious friction between the different religious organizations create in the future.