Anglican cleric
and male partner register for domestic partnership in
U.K.

A well-known Anglican cathedral dean in the United Kingdom and his male partner have entered into a domestic partnership. The Very Reverend Jeffrey John, the Dean of St. Albans who was forced to resign as bishop of Reading in 2003 because he is gay, officially registered his relationship with another Anglican priest, the Reverend Grant Holmes, last week, London's Daily Telegraph reports. The private event, at which the couple wore clerical collars, was attended by only a few witnesses in an effort to avoid media attention, the Telegraph reports. The civil partnership, as it is known in the U.K., now gives the two men nearly the same legal rights under British law as those of a married couple. Anglican clergy are allowed to enter into such partnerships if they assure their superiors that they are celibate. John has said that he and Holmes are no longer sexually active, according to the Telegraph. Whether they are or not, their union is sure to galvanize opposition to gays in the worldwide Anglican communion, especially since John is a close friend of the church's international spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. (The Advocate)