I’m catching up on some UK news here. A couple of days ago the synod of the Church of England decided, against some fairly high powered advice, not to allow women to become bishops. I am, of course, very sad for my friend Caroline Symcox, who I am sure would make a wonderful bishop one day, and for all of the other hard-working and dedicated women in the lower ranks of the CofE clergy. This post, however, is not about them, it is about political power.

To a large extent I don’t care what policies the CofE has internally. I’m not even a Christian, let alone a CofE member. If they want to ban women bishops, that’s up to them. But CofE bishops are more than just religious leaders. They all get a seat in the House of Lords, and thus all get to make laws for the rest of the country. The net result of that is that a bunch of conservative old men with huge hang-ups about sex have an important say in the law of the land. And the bishops have been a particular thorn in the side of LGBT people over the years.

It is not acceptable that an organization that discriminates so obviously against large parts of its membership should have the right to appoint representatives to Parliament. There is a petition on the Govermnent website calling for the disestablishment of the CofE. I have signed it.