Sandi Toksvig accuses archbishop of making ‘terrible mistake’ on same-sex marriage

Author and comedian Sandi Toksvig said the lives of LGBTQ+ people are “at stake” after the Archbishop of Canterbury reaffirmed a 1998 Anglican statement rejecting same-sex marriage.

In a speech to more than 650 bishops, the Archbishop confirmed that the “validity” of Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference “is not in doubt”.

The resolution said marriage is “between one man and one woman” and same-sex marriage is “inconsistent with Scripture.”

Ms Toksvig, who referred to herself as a humanist in the letter and is openly gay, even offered to speak to the Archbishop over coffee about his “mistake”.

The comedian added that she had received death threats in the past from Christians who wanted to kill her in the name of God.

The 64-year-old posted the letter on Twitter last night, writing “FAO Archbishop of Canterbury”.

She tweeted: “So you and your other religious friends got together at the Lambeth Conference and the main conclusion seems to be that gay sex is a sin.

“It was a sin in 1998 and you just wanted to make it clear in 2022 that none of your well-dressed gang got over it.

“Really, with the state of the world, what did you want to focus on? Didn’t you have other pressing issues like, I don’t know, war or poverty?”

Ms Toksvig added: “This is a serious matter. The lives of LGBTQ+ people are at stake here.

“Over the years I have had several credible death threats, sometimes requiring the very kind assistance of the hate crime police.

“Each and every one of these threats came from an evangelical Christian. Inevitably they wanted to kill me in the name of God.”

She said in the letter that Mr Welby was “stuck” and should “grow up and gain a deeper understanding of human behavior than we had 2,000 years ago”.

She added: “Jesus doesn’t mention sexuality at all. It was clearly no big deal to him.”

She advised Mr Welby that he should focus on sending a message to his followers urging the need to simply be a “good person”.

Following the Archbishop’s reaffirmation of the statement, around 90 bishops, including eight archbishops, signed a statement saying they believe “LGBT+ people are a precious part of God’s creation”.