Two items on the BBC online news:

The first is from February, 2010, the second from today.

Clerics call for gay ceremonies at religious venues

Civil partnerships were legalised by the Civil Partnership Act 2004

Senior Anglican clergy have called for gay couples to be allowed to hold civil partnership ceremonies in churches, synagogues or other religious venues.

In a letter to the Times, clerics said the current law was "discriminatory" because it denied homosexual couples the same choices as heterosexual ones.

It urged members of the House of Lords to support an amendment to the Equality Bill being proposed on 2 March 2010.

Traditionalists say holy buildings should be for heterosexual marriages.

In the letter, the group of clerics, which includes the Bishop of Salisbury, the Dean of Southwark and five former bishops, said: "Straight couples have the choice between civil marriage and religious marriage. Gay couples are denied a similar choice.

"To deny people of faith the opportunity of registering the most important promise of their lives in their willing church or synagogue, according to its liturgy, is plainly discriminatory."

Religious language

The clerics said gay couples' religious freedom was being restricted while that of the Church of England was protected.

Leaders of Liberal Judaism, the Quakers and the Unitarians had already said they would register the partnerships on their premises if the law changed, the letter said.

The amendment to the Equality Bill is being proposed by Lord Waheed Alli.

It would also remove the ban on religious language in the civil partnership ceremony, the newspaper reported.

Civil partnerships were legalised by the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

13 February 2011 Last updated at 09:27

Gay couples currently cannot get married in religious settings

Ministers will publish plans to change the law to enable same-sex couples to "marry" in church, the BBC has learned.

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone is to propose lifting the ban on civil partnerships taking place in religious settings in England and Wales.

But churches will not be compelled to hold ceremonies if individual clergy are opposed on religious grounds.

The legislation would also cover synagogues and mosques although homosexuality is forbidden under Islam.

Currently same-sex marriages are banned from using hymns or even readings from the Bible.

The changes will be welcomed by gay rights campaigners but are likely to raise the ire of many churchgoers.

The The Sunday Telegraph claims the decision to push ahead with the legislation is a victory for Mrs Featherstone and her fellow Liberal Democrats.

The Telegraph says the Church of England has already said it will not allow any of its churches to be used for civil partnership ceremonies.

But Quakers, Unitarians, and Liberal Jews are thought to be more sympathetic to the idea, says the paper.

The move follows an amendment to the Equality Act by Lord Alli, a Labour peer.

The Home Office spokesman said: "The government is currently considering what the next stage should be for civil partnerships, including how some religious organisations can allow same-sex couples to register their relationship in a religious setting if they wish to do so.

"Ministers have met a range of people and organisations to hear their views on this issue. An announcement will be made in due course."