LONDON, August 28, 2006  –  The Archbishop of Canterbury’s latest pronouncement in which he tells gays that they are not welcome in his Church unless they “change their ways”, was condemned today as “spineless” by the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA).

 “Rowan Williams has now made it clear that he thrown in his lot with the religious right, and confirmed himself to be a kind of Vicar of Bray figure - changing his opinions to fit in with the mood of the times rather than sticking to his principles,” GALHAs Secretary George Broadhead said.

“If anyone in the Anglican Church was in any doubt about where Williams stood on gay rights, they now know.”

Mr Broadhead said that if the suggestions that up to a third of Anglican clergy are gay is true, then there should be a mass exodus from the church.

“How anyone with a grain of self-respect would want to serve under a man who has betrayed them so badly is incomprehensible.  Gay people should leave the church in their droves,” he said.

Mr Broadhead pointed out that the Church of England is established by law and has political power in this country with its bishops sitting in the House of Lords.

“This is not just a matter for gay Christians.  The Anglican Church’s swing to the right affects all of us.  There have been increasing examples of the bishops in the House of Lords opposing gay rights.

“Indeed, they argued strongly that the Church should be exempted from the forthcoming legislation banning discrimination against gay people in the provision of goods and services.

The latest move by this spineless Archbishop should serve as a warning signal to all gay people – religious or not.  Religion has declared war on them,” Mr. Broadhead concluded.

Anglican gays see the latest pronouncement from Lambeth Palace as a massive “U-turn” by Archbishop Williams.

Seventeen years ago, when a Doctor of Divinity at Oxford University, he said that “the pressure that some church figures put upon people of differing sexual identities is a greater disgrace than anything else seen in the church” when he founded the Institute for the Study of Christianity and Sexuality.

“People will feel this is a huge betrayal. Rowan has refashioned the Church of England into a narrow-minded, conservative sect,” openly gay Labour MP for Rhondda Chris Bryant told the Sunday Telegraph.