Posted on 03/18/2014 6:33:50 PM PDT by iowamark
Ukip is to drop its opposition to gay marriage, party leader Nigel Farage revealed today.
The move risks angering disaffected Tories who switched to Ukip after same sex weddings were legalised by the coalition, but Mr Farage insisted: We have absolutely no problem with anybody.
He said that as part of a review of Ukips manifesto, which he has dismissed as drivel, he would not campaign for gay weddings to be banned.
Ukip previously said civil partnerships were a common sense way for gay and lesbian couples to register their commitment in a formal way.
But it warned: Gay marriage is an entirely different thing altogether.
The party has also been embarrassed by candidates and members expressing homophobic views.
In January Ukip councillor David Silvester was suspended from the party after suggesting the winter floods were linked to the governments decision to legalise gay marriage.
He claimed the country had been beset by storms because the Prime Minister had acted arrogantly against the Gospel by passing same-sex marriage laws.
However, Mr Farage has now insisted that he would fight the next election as a supporter of gay marriage.
He made the remarks while taking part in a Q&A with PinkNews. Asked by a reader if UKIP would seek to abolish the marriages of gay and lesbian couples entered into after 29 March 2014 in its 2015 manifesto, Mr Farage simply replied: No. Ukip councillor David Silvester was suspended after linking the floods to gay marriage +2
Ukip councillor David Silvester was suspended after linking the floods to gay marriage
He also called for a move to the French marriage system, where the legal act of marriage is separated from religious ceremonies.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Gay and pro-gay voters would never Vote UKIP with a gun to their head. They are caving in for NOTHING.
Beautifully and economically put. Really. I wish I could express myself so succinctly.
You are judging Britain by the US’s social standards. Christianity is still relatively influential in the states, but over here, only a small minority really take it seriously, and even people on the right and the undecideds are at best, largely indifferent to the issue of gay marriage, if not actively in favour of it (Tory support for it wasn’t just Cameron acting in a vacuum).
All the non-fringe parties are in favour of gay marriage, it is a dead issue here, and it will just have to be chalked up to an issue that is part of the liberty of individual conscience and move on to issues which are not lost causes. If people turn away from UKIP because they now offer a begrudging acceptance of gay marriage, who else are they going to vote for?
Gay Ukip MEP David Coburn Says Gay Marriage Supporters Are ‘Equality Nazis’
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/10/30/david-coburn-ukip-gay-mep_n_6060184.html
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