File photo The US Episcopal Church is about to become the first major religion in the nation to approve a rite for blessing gay marriage. Its bishops have overwhelmingly approved the move, which is reportedly expected to receive final approval from its House of Deputies later this week. Reuters says the decision would go into effect in December and make the Episcopal Church, an independent US-based institution affiliated with global Anglicanism, the biggest US church to allow a liturgy for same-sex marriages. The convention also approved inclusion of transgender people among those who should not be discriminated against, either for ordination or as lay leaders. "Today the Episcopal Church affirmed the human dignity of a deeply stigmatized population that is far too often victim to discrimination, bullying and abuse," the Reverend Lowell Grisham, a leader of the Chicago Consultation, a group that supports equality, said in a statement. The Episcopal Church is the 14th-largest denomination in the United States with nearly two million adherents.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 11th July 2012 - 10:33am