Christian Institute

Christian Institute

The Christian Institute (CI) is a British evangelical Christian pressure group. The CI promotes a Conservative Christian viewpoint, founded on belief in Biblical inerrancy. The CI is a registered charity.

While the CI has campaigned on issues including gambling, abortion and euthanasia, it is most notable for its campaigns against gay rights. The CI sought to retain Section 28 and a higher age of consent for homosexuals, and opposed the Civil Partnership Act and legislation giving gay couples the right to adopt. It has opposed measures to prevent gay people being discriminated against in the provision of services and goods. Both the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010 were ultimately enacted by Parliament.

The Christian Institute's activities resulted in censure by The Charity Commission in 2001, for breaching rules limiting overt political campaigning by charities, by "publishing a 100-page report, Homosexuality and Young People (1998), which argued against reforming anti-homosexual law with no reference at all to a Christian view."

In 2004 the CI funded a full-page newspaper advertisement in The Times in support of a controversial amendment to the Civil Partnership Bill. The amendment attempted to include within the scope of the Bill siblings who had lived together for longer than 12 years. The amendment was ultimately rejected in both Houses of Parliament. In response to the advertisement, Members of Parliament questioned the CI's overt political campaigning in light of its charitable status.

Read more about Christian Institute:  Legal Actions

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