Jeremy Pemberton (priest)
Jeremy Charles Baring Pemberton (born 1956) is a British Anglican priest who was the first priest in the Church of England to enter into a same-sex marriage when he married another man in 2014. As same-sex marriages are not accepted by the church (its canon law defines marriage as between one man and one woman), he was denied a job as a chaplain for the National Health Service by John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York. Before then, he had been an Anglican priest for 33 years.
The Reverend Jeremy Pemberton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1956 (age 67–68) |
| Alma mater |
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| Known for | First male Church of England priest to marry another man |
| Spouse |
Laurence (m. 2014) |
| Religion | Christianity (Anglicanism) |
| Church | Church of England |
He sued the church on employment discrimination grounds. However, a tribunal upheld his dismissal, saying that being a Church of England chaplain meant that Pemberton had to uphold that church's views on marriage. The tribunal also said that the Equality Act in England and Wales allowed for religious exemptions to laws that protect people from being fired because of their sexual orientation. The dismissal was upheld on appeal by the Court of Appeal in 2018.