The official Church of Scotland is planning on drafting new laws which will enable and include same-sex marriage. The Reverend Bryan Kerr called upon the Scottish Church’s national assembly to write said laws, and the motion was carried by the chamber by a vote of 345-170.
If the plan is carried out, then the Scottish Church will be the very first national British church to grant ministers the freedom to conduct same-sex marriages.
Several reverends who spoke before the assembly noted their support of the act, including Tom Gordon, who related his own experiences. Gordon, who has one straight daughter and one gay daughter, lamented that he could not walk his gay daughter down the aisle upon occasion of her marriage.
The motion also allowed Scottish ministers to decline to perform same-sex marriages, if they individually not wish to. One attending reverend, Mark Malcolm, said he would fight against mandatory inclusion of same-sex marriage, if the obligation was pressed upon all clergy.
In June 2017, the Episcopal Church of Scotland decided to allow same-sex marriage inside the church. This marked the first time an Anglican church allowed for the practice.