The Muslim Council of Britain has complained it is not being banned from marrying gay people in England and Wales, unlike the established church.

Under UK government proposals revealed last week, the Church of England and the Church in Wales will be explicitly, legally banned from marrying lesbian and gay couples when marriage equality is introduced. Other faiths in England and Wales will be able opt-in to marrying same-sex couples if they want.

Now the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has described the plan as ‘utterly discriminatory’ and demanded they are banned too.

By contrast the Church of England and the Church in Wales – the official state religion of the UK – are angry they are to be banned, even though church elders have vociferously opposed marriage equality in Britain.

Farooq Murad, the secretary general of the MCB said: ‘We find it incredible that while introducing the bill in the House, Culture Secretary Maria Miller could keep a straight face when offering exemption for the established Church while in the same breath claiming, “fairness to be at the heart of her proposals”.

‘It is not just the Church of England and Church in Wales who explicitly stated strong opposition as Mrs Miller says, the Muslim Council of Britain along with most other faith groups also made equally strong representation.

‘No one in their right mind should accept such a discriminatory law. It should be amended to give exactly the same exemption to all the religions.’

The MCB is seeking an urgent meeting with Culture Secretary Miller, who also leads on equality for the UK government, to express the concerns of the Muslim community on the proposed legislation.

The self-appointed group has more than 500 affiliated mosques, charities and schools and was created to enhance Muslim unity.

Faith groups in the UK are split over plans to introduce marriage equality in England, Wales and Scotland. The equality legislation is poised to go through next year and the first same-sex marriages are expected in 2014.

Many Christian denominations, including Quakers and Unitarians, wish to be able to hold same-sex marriages. Reform and Liberal Jews also plan to permit gay marriages in their synagogues.

But Miller has proposed a ‘quadruple lock’ to protect those who opposed gay marriage from being forced to conduct the ceremonies in England and Wales. The Scottish legislation was drafted separately and will be pushed through Scotland’s parliament.

Under Miller’s plans, no religious group or person could be forced to conduct gay weddings and it would be illegal for them to hold a gay marriage unless their organization’s governing body had opted in.

The 2010 Equality Act would be changed so no one could bring a court case against someone who refused to marry a gay couple.

And the legislation would make it impossible for the Church of England and Church in Wales to marry same-sex couples without them opting in and then persuading parliament to change the law again – giving them extra protection.

But it’s a level of protection some in the church don’t want – even though the MCB does.

On 12 December, the Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan confirmed the Church in Wales had not been consulted over the ‘quadruple lock’ which had left the church ‘completely shocked’.

‘We feel it’s a step too far and we weren’t consulted and we’re now looking into what we can do,’ a spokeswoman said. ‘We will be pushing into having it amended, I would imagine.’

The church has complained they only heard about Miller’s plans when she announced them to parliament. The government has responded it would have been wrong to tell them before parliament was told.