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National Secular Society plans protests over his state-funded visit to UK in September
Pope: Obsessed by gays?
Pope condemns gay equality laws prior to first UK visit
Pope Benedict XVI has condemned British equality legislation as a violation of "natural law", just months from his first official visit to the UK.
In a letter addressed to the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, he criticised the legislation for creating "limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs".
It is thought his comments referred to provisions in Harriet Harman's equality bill, defeated in the House of Lords last week, which would have forced churches to employ gay and transgender staff, and also to laws enacted last year that prevented adoption agencies from discriminating against gay couples.
The pope sent the letter after being told by English and Welsh bishops that sexual orientation legislation that came into effect on January 1 2009 had forced the closure of half the Roman Catholic adoption agencies because the law making it illegal to discriminate against gay applicants went against their beliefs.
Yesterday, the National Secular Society announced it was planning protests over the pope's state-funded visit to the UK in September.
