When Politics and Faith are at War, Where do you Stand?

BBC NEWS; 30 October 2011 Last updated at 13:04 GMT

Cameron threat to dock some UK aid to anti-gay nations

The Commonwealth must have strong values, David Cameron says

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David Cameron has threatened to withhold UK aid from governments that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality.

The UK prime minister said he raised the issue with some of the states involved at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia.

Human rights reform in the Commonwealth was one issue that leaders failed to reach agreement on at the summit.

Mr Cameron says those receiving UK aid should "adhere to proper human rights".

Ending the bans on homosexuality was one of the recommendations of an internal report into the future relevance of the Commonwealth.

Mr Cameron's threat applies only to one type of bilateral aid known as general budget support, and would not reduce the overall amount of aid to any one country.

Malawi has already had some of its budget support suspended over concerns about its attitude to gay rights. Concerns have also been raised with the governments of Uganda and Ghana.

This is what Politics has to say on Same sex marriages!

In what might be viewed as a contradictory statement here in the United States, U.K. prime minister David Cameron said he supports same-sex marriage precisely because he is a conservative.

His comments were made while speaking to the Conservative Party in Manchester, England, on Wednesday.

"I stood before a conservative conference once and I said it shouldn't matter whether a commitment is between a man and a woman, or a man and a man, or a woman and woman. And you applauded me," he said. "Five years on, we are consulting on legalizing gay marriage, and to anyone who has reservations, I say this: yes, it's about equality. But it's also about something else: commitment. Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society's stronger when we make vows to each other and we support each other. So I don't support gay marriage in spite of being a conservative, I support gay marriage because I am a conservative."

While government officials in the U.K. are set to begin discussions on legalizing gay marriage by March of 2012, some religious leaders have lashed out at Cameron for attempting to redefine the concept of marriage altogether.

Peter Smith, a senior archbishop in England said, "Whilst we welcome the prime minister's support of marriage, family life, and especially the care of children, the proposed redefinition of marriage cannot be right."

England's two major parties, Labour and Cameron's own Conservative, have long been criticized for remaining silent on the marriage equality issue.

Representatives from both parties however, have recently come out in support of marriage equality. Chris Bryant, a Labour MP who is in a civil partnership himself, tweeted, "I hear Cameron backed gay marriage, if so I warmly applaud him"

...and this is what some people say...

Eric F Hearn

I could kiss him for that. That is beautiful

Jeff Seddon

It's great that in the UK we have a Conservative prime minister who supports gay marriage, and says so publicly. It's not something you could have even imagined a few years ago. But these are fine words that are yet to be backed up by actions. The Conservatives have already delayed the consultation exercise for gay marriage once - it was supposed to be this summer, now it's next spring. They've also already caved to the religious lobby and said they're only supporting civil marriage equality but religious marriages for gay people will still not be possible. At least that one's a clear violation of religious freedom ripe for challenge in the European Court of Human Rights. This whole exercise looks like it could turn into our equivalent of the DADT repeal - long, drawn out and full of petty squabbling. The left-wing Labour Party did most of the work for them during the first decade of the 21st century; we already have 'civil partnership', which is legally virtually the same as marriage. It's a shame the Conservatives seem incapable of taking the last few steps towards full equality without tremendous dithering.