David Cameron thinks that faith schools should not be allowed to teach that homosexuality is a sin, according to a quote unearthed by the Daily Mail.
The would-be Prime Minister made the inflammatory remark during an interview with a gay lifestyle magazine ahead of the last general election.
According to the Daily Mail’s Andrew Pierce, when Mr Cameron was asked if faith schools should stop teaching that homosexuality is a sin, he said: “Basically, yes, that’s the short answer to that, without getting into a long religious exegesis.
Rewrite
“I don’t want to get into an enormous row with the Archbishop here. But I think the Church has to do some of the things that the Conservative Party has been through — sorting this issue out and recognising that full equality is a bottom line.”
The news comes amidst concern over the Government’s plans to rewrite the definition of marriage.
Mr Cameron wants to introduce same-sex marriage by 2015. However, a petition opposing any change has now been signed by more than 600,000 people.
Lashed
Earlier this year Mr Cameron lashed out at churches for “locking out” gays by supporting marriage between one man and one woman.
He said: “I just want to say I am absolutely determined that this Coalition government will follow in that tradition by legislating for gay marriage in this Parliament.”
He also said that the Church is on the wrong side of the argument and should not “be locking out people who are gay, or are bisexual or are transgender”.
Forced
Last week a leading human rights lawyer warned that if gay marriage is legalised, teachers and others could be forced out of their jobs if they fail to endorse such unions.
Aidan O’Neill QC also warned that foster carers could be barred from looking after children if they say they disagree with allowing two people of the same sex to marry.