A Baptist minister has said that Baptist churches should have the freedom to carry out same-sex partnership ceremonies if they decide it is right to do so.

The Christian thinktank Ekklesia has welcomed the news that the government is to push ahead with implementing a change in the law to allow religious premises and religious language to be used in same-sex civil partnership ceremonies in England and Wales.

A gay couple have been awarded £3,600 after successfully suing Christian hotel owners who refused to let them stay in a double room.

Four same-sex couples and four mixed-sex couples have begun a legal challenge to secure equal rights to marriage and civil partnership in the UK.