GAY MARRIAGE

Denmark has a state Lutheran church. In other words, the state owns all of the buildings, employs and pays the priests, and the Queen is its titular head. There is even a Church Minister in the Government and a church income tax to pay for it all (though you can opt out of that if you object).

The country also has an enviable reputation of tolerance for homosexuals. Yet until today, it was not possible for homosexuals to be married in a Danish church. This caused resentment, not least because the policy was not dependent on the religious whim of (say) the Pope, but continued by successive Governments otherwise committed to full equality under the law.

Research shows that only a minority of priests and citizens (around 20% in each case) object to the proposed change. Similar minorities used to object to the ordination of women and the remarriage in church of divorcees, and those changes went through smoothly enough. I suspect that this new one will as well, when it comes into effect next year.

Walter Blotscher