Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley has said he is in support of Lawyers for Justice and RC Archbishop Joseph Harris, who are against same-sex marriages. Berkley said for sometime the issue has been tabled for discussion within the church but has caused a schism in some parts of it. The Anglican Church's position against same-sex unions stems from the 1998 Lambeth Conference, which ruled that the church could not sanction marriage for members of the same sex. But Colin Robinson, executive director of the Coalition Advocating for the Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (CAISO), said the group was not advocating same-sex marriage.
He believes groups who are raising the issue are doing so as a "polarising tactic." Robinson urged the Government to not be distracted and get on with the issue of nation-building instead. Jason Jones, who founded the group, I Am One, is lobbying for removal of all legislation that criminalises the LGBT community; removal of the immigration law which prevents free travel of members of the LGBT community; marriage equality under the law; full inclusion of the LGBT community in the Equal Opportunity Act; anti-hate legislation; and the inclusion of LGBT matters in the portfolio of the Ministry of Youth and Gender Affairs. He said: "The archbishop and other religious leaders need clarity on this issue, as they erroneously assume gay marriage somehow attacks their beliefs and principles. "Allowing the inclusion of gay and lesbian people to the institution of marriage does not take away the important religious freedoms that we rightly cherished in this country. "Religious groups will retain the right to make their own decisions, consistent with the principles of their faith, about whom they will and won't marry."