UPDATED: The PM has spoken. Video and story at the BBC.
The Church of England is quick to respond, and forcefully object.
Original post below:
Prime Minister David Cameron supports marriage equality in the UK, including allowing same sex marriages in churches if they choose.
David Cameron will risk a major battle with his party next week by backing gay weddings in churches, the Evening Standard can reveal.
He will go further than ever in his modernising drive by saying religious groups should be allowed to host same-sex civil weddings in churches, synagogues and other religious buildings if they choose.
Organisations that reject gay marriage, such as the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church, will have legal protection from being forced to host ceremonies against their wishes, the Prime Minister will pledge. MPs will have a free vote on a Bill next year.
It means all three party leaders now support a historic equality reform that would once have seemed incredible — that homosexual partners can have the same civil marriage rights as heterosexual couples and even get married in a religious setting. But some Conservatives said there would be “outrage” and warned that the Tories would haemorrhage members.