• AS a paid-up member of the Church of England I was sorry to read about the plight of Rachel Gillingham who was outcast from her church after she declared that she was in a same-sex relationship, (‘Forced out’: Lesbian told being openly gay did not meet church’s behaviour rules, February 4).

Vicars have a lot of autonomy and my only advice is to find another church where the vicar has a different view.

Many years ago I wanted to get married in my local church but the vicar at the time would not marry divorcees. My wife and I had to find a different church.

Time and time again the line from Leviticus, 18:20, comes up and lands Christians in hot water.

It is normally interpreted to mean a same-sex relationship is a sin. I often wonder if this interpretation is correct since it is not one of the Ten Commandments and 2 per cent of the population are LGBT.

It has occurred to me that in Leviticus there is particularly concern with controlling infection and it includes very precise directions to priests about dealing with skin diseases and how to spot leprosy.

Now that we have modern medicine and condoms perhaps Leviticus has become obsolete and it should no longer be considered a sin to be gay.

JONNY BUCKNELL
Chamberlain Street, NW1