Yesterday I was a guest of Manni Mashi’s evening radio show where the discussion topic was Gay Marriage. You can download the MP3 here.
Gurdial Singh was a representative from the Siri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Bristol who also featured on this show. Generally speaking, the outcome was positive. He reinforced that we, as Sikhs, do not discriminate and are accepting of everybody. When asked if a gay couple could get a blessing in his Gurdwara, he said it would be allowed!
However, he didn’t agree to a same sex marriage in a Gurdwara. He quite rightly said the Rehat Maryada (the Sikh Code of Conduct) explicity states that a marriage must be between a man and woman. This is true and I have tackled this topic in my previous post here. He also seemed to imply that reproduction is the main reason for marriage and thus in my opinion, invalidated same sex marriages.
Overall, the outcome was good. If more and more Sikhs share the same thoughts as Gurdial Singh (in terms of not being homophobic and more accepting), then I believe same-sex marriages within a Gurdwara will soon follow. It’s important to take small steps to ensure the community has a solid understanding that being a Gay Sikh is not a contradictory term at all.