Leaflet, 'Where We Stand'

Unitarian churches have a long history of supporting LGBT equality. As early as 1970 the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association passed a motion calling for members to campaign against discrimination against homosexual and bisexual people. In 1984 a motion was passed allowing clergy to conduct services of union for same-sex unions and from 1996 the church supported same-sex marriage. In 2002 the first openly trans* person was asked to serve a congregation and in 2007 the church’s General Assembly voted to affirm trans* congregational members and committed themselves to campaign for their equal rights. In 2012 Kieran Bohan and Warren Hartley made history by becoming the first couple in the UK to celebrate their civil partnership on religious premises when they held their civil partnership at Ullet Road Unitarian Church. The couple received legal permission just a week before the ceremony and were civil-partnered at the Unitarian Chapel on 6 May 2012 in front of 150 family and friends.