Nick Clegg backs gay marriage in churches - in break with David Cameron pledge Opponents of same-sex marriage said Mr Clegg's comments made clear that the reassurances offered to religious groups could not be relied upon. Both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church have voiced fears that priests could eventually be forced to conduct same-sex weddings against their teachings. A clutch of religious groups including the Quaker and Unitarian churches as well as Reform and Liberal Judaism have said that they would like to be able to conduct same-sex weddings. But David Cameron told religious leaders at Easter that he did not want to "fall out" over gay marriage adding that the plans would affect "what happens in a register office, not what happens in a church." The recent Home Office consultation paper makes clear that it would not be "legally possible" for religious groups to marry homosexual couples even if they wanted to. The blanket exemption was intended to reassure those who feared they would be forced to conduct same-sex weddings against their will. But it has thrown up a clutch of other legal problems including a warning from the Church of England that the creation of a new distinction in law between civil and religious marriage could open the way to disestablishment. Last month Desmond Swayne, Mr Cameron's parliamentary aide, became the first member of the Government to voice his support for religious groups hosting same-sex weddings if they wished. Now, in an interview with the London Evening Standard to mark the World Pride event, Mr Clegg said: "This is a personal view at the moment, but I think that in exactly the same way that we shouldn't force any church to conduct gay marriage, we shouldn't stop any church that wants to conduct gay marriage. I don't see why two individuals who love each other and want to show commitment to each other should not be able to do so in a way that is socially recognised as being marriage. Colin Hart, campaign director of the Coalition for Marriage, said: "This is yet another demonstration, if one was needed, as to why the proposals to rewrite the definition of marriage should be ditched. Mr Clegg, is shifting the goalposts in a totally transparent attempt to garner support for his party ahead of the world pride festival in London. He is playing politics with marriage. But Benjamin Cohen of the Out4Marriage campaign said: "Without allowing this permissive change in the law, all the Government would really be doing is changing the name of civil partnerships to civil marriages religious same sex marriage is important. There are many couples who are religious and there are many religious ministers who believe in equality. A Downing Street spokesman said that Mr Clegg had been expressing a personal view. A spokeswoman for the Home office added: "We are not proposing to make anybody do anything that goes against their conscience. Religious organisations will not be forced to host same-sex marriages. Marriage is one of the most important institutions we have. It binds us together, it brings stability, and it makes this country stronger. That is why we want to lift the ban on same-sex couples having a civil marriage. The purpose of the equal civil marriage consultation is to enable us to listen to all views, and we will listen carefully before taking our proposals forward.