People who believe in traditional marriage could find themselves accused of ‘hate crimes’ if marriage is redefined, UKIP’s openly gay London Regional Chairman has cautioned.
David Coburn, who is also a London Assembly candidate, also warned that rewriting the definition of marriage would represent an “unnecessary victory roll” by homosexuals.
Writing on a homosexual news website Mr Coburn said that UKIP “thoroughly supports equal rights for same sex civil partnerships”.
Assault
But he warned that the Party did have a problem with the Government changing the meaning of the word ‘marriage’.
He said: “If the government does legislate in this way UKIP believes that any criticism of same sex marriage which may be expressed by someone on the basis of their faith could be classified as a ‘hate crime’.
“That would be a grotesque assault on peoples’ freedom of conscience. As we all know these things tend to be the thin end of the wedge once the government’s ludicrous overpaid/over-pensioned thought police get on the job.
Satisfactory
“I have always fought for equal treatment and I believe civil partnerships have achieved that. However, I think it does the gay community no good whatever to cross the street and pick a fight with people of faith.”
Mr Coburn’s comments come as the Government prepares to launch a consultation on redefining marriage.
A petition supporting the current definition of marriage has already attracted more than 180,000 signatures. It is being run by the Coalition for Marriage.
Opposed
Last week a poll revealed that 70 per cent of the population is opposed to the Government’s plans to rewrite the definition of marriage.
Last month homosexual celebrity Christopher Biggins said he is happy with civil partnerships but doesn’t want to redefine marriage because “we can’t just get rid of everything.”