"Equality means we don’t have a hierarchy."
"For Quakers, equality is fundamental to our lives. When I transitioned from male to female I felt unable to continue going to my Anglican church but found a welcome with Quakers. I was a
stranger and they took me in. Equality means we don’t have a hierarchy. Each of us seeks the good of the group and the wider community, and we come together to get to know God in each other. We make decisions together, seeking God’s loving purposes. I am fulfilled when the community accepts the service I offer in love."
"LGBTQ+ relationships are affirmed and celebrated"
Quakers in Britain are an LGBTQ+ affirming faith group. We all have human gifts and friendship to offer and we believe that all can equally access the divine.
Quakers in Britain celebrate with equal joy the marriages of same-sex and opposite-sex couples. In 2009 we started campaigning for the right to marry same-sex couples in Quaker meetings for worship. These became legal in 2014.
LGBTQ+ relationships are affirmed and celebrated. Quakers also understand conversion therapy to be a form of inhuman and degrading treatment. Freedom of religion or belief cannot be used to justify it.
"the first religious movement to condemn slavery"
Quakers believe that everyone is equal – each of us is "a child of God". This leads us to challenge inequality and work with people who suffer as a result of it. We oppose all forms of discrimination and champion diversity.
Early Quakers recognised the equal spiritual authority of women. In the 18th century British Quakers were the first religious movement to condemn slavery and would not allow members to 'own' enslaved people. In the 19th century Quakers were pioneers in prison reform.
Our concern for equality encourages us to think about how we live. We try to behave in ways that express the equal worth of everyone. There is no hierarchy in our worshipping groups and all have an equal part to play