Lucy Care, a member of the Federal Policy Committee from Derby and regular contributor to Liberal Democrat Voice, has written an interesting piece for the Independent on the Quakers’ involvement in the fight for LGBT equality.

She recalls a gay man talking to a Young Quaker workshop when she was in her teens and how this affected her:

He described his search for love and finding his ‘Mr Right’.  He talked about his joy and loving commitment towards the man with whom he hoped to spend the rest of his life.  The emotions which he described seemed to me then – and now – to be the same as those sought for, and often experienced, by heterosexual couples, including now in my own marriage.

In 2009, the Quakers called for a change in the law to allow same sex couples to marry. This, says Lucy, is consistent with their philosophy and other campaigns and work:

Quakers led the fight to recognise and outlaw slavery.  Our respect for life and peace resulted in the formation of the Friends Ambulance Units in the two world wars.  Quakers work closely with the UN and in current conflict zones such as Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

The vast majority of people who want equal marriage are not Quakers, but together our voices are louder as we ‘speak truth to power’.   “What is life for,” as my father says, “If it isn’t to help each other?

You can read her article in full here.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings