Britain’s only Green Party council has been accused of ‘violent prejudice’ against Christians as it considers expelling a member who spoke out against same-sex marriage. Christina Summers, a member of Brighton and Hove City Council in Sussex, has been ordered to face a party disciplinary panel after voicing dissent over the issue. She was the only member of the council who at a meeting last week voted against a motion in support of the Government’s plans to allow homosexual couples to marry. Miss Summers, a devout Christian, says that she strongly supports gay rights and the introduction of civil partnerships but could not back the change to marriage laws on religious grounds. She argued that equality did not require changing the traditional definition of marriage and told colleagues it was a matter of ‘freedom of speech’ for her. However, fellow Green councillors voted to launch an ‘official inquiry process’ into her stance, accusing her of bringing the party into disrepute.
Pray: for Christina’s right to express her own belief to be upheld, and may the Green Party respect the principles of free speech. (Ps.19:8)