Queerguru does not support or subscribe to any organised religion,  however, a  few excited cheers were coming from our Brit Editor’s Office last month when they confirmed that the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury would be  a WOMAN.  Shock horror as 63-year-old  Sarah Mullally, former Bishop of London, was to become the first woman to lead the Church of England in its 1,428-year history and would be the next spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion with over 85 to 110 million members across more than 165 countries.

She has not been officially installed yet ….. but back in November he UK’s first lesbian archbishop, Cherry Vann, was enthroned as the Archbishop of Wales and at the time said she’s determined to “speak out for inclusivity and the richness that diversity brings”

BUT all that good news has very quickly been followed by BAD NEWS. The Church of England’s national assembly has now formally abandoned proposals to deliver blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples in churches. The General Synod did vote to continue to look into the issue in the future, but bishops had already decided there were theological and legal barriers to having such ceremonies now.

Back in early 2023, after 10 years of bitter debate, the Church of England finally decided that, unlike some other Anglican churches like the Scottish Episcopal Church, it would not support gay marriage.  Instead, it proposed church “blessings” for same-sex couples, a move that was endorsed by a Synod vote, and a process was set up to try to work out how stand-alone blessing ceremonies for gay couples could work.