Coronation Street

The soap in question is “Coronation Street”, the moral and religious issue in it is whether two born men could be married inside a church after one has had a sex change operation to become a female. It is a religious and moral issue because it is against the church rules for two men to marry, how can two men become “One flesh”, or pro-create (Have a baby, which is the point in humans)? To pro-create is the purpose of Christianity, it is also against the law of the land to “marry” two men, so should Christians dis-obey the law?

Roy and Hayley the couple in question and it is shown that they are in love in the soap in question. Hayley was born a female, and had a sex change operation. She was born Harold. Roy however, has been a man since birth. Jessica Lundy is the vicar who is willing to marry the couple, against the church rules. The episode shows two sides of prejudice. Prejudice against the wedding, and prejudice against the thoughts of the other side. Les Battersby hated the thought of the wedding going through, as he didn’t want a “Gay” marriage to happen, because he is presumably a homophobe. Emily Bishop, however, didn’t want the wedding to happen until a while into the episode, and then she came around to the idea of a couple being in love mattering more than what the church says.

Coronation Street showed Roy and Hayley being in love, and overcoming Hayley’s secret sex change. They then arranged a wedding in the local church, so that they could make their love a commitment, and formal. On the day of the wedding, a local neighbour (Les Battersby, the “Homophobe”) had tipped off the press who turned up at the church, so the wedding was unable to go ahead. Jessica, the vicar, protected Roy and Hayley’s privacy by outwitting the journalists and agreeing to marry the pair in their cafe. All friends and well wishers were there and Roy and Hayley. Coronation street showed the desired of a normal person who believed she had been born in the wrong body. It illustrated how hurtful prejudice, past and current, remarks can be. It showed Roy and Hayley exploring alternative options open to them i.e. getting married in a different country; just living together as they had been previously; and changing Hayley’s surname to the same as Roy’s (Cropper). It showed Jessica recognising Roy and Hayley’s love for each other and stating that even though the marriage was not recognised by the state or church she believed the “God would have recognised it”. At the end Roy and Hayley left to go on a honeymoon like any ordinary couple would.