Gay canon Jeremy Pemberton stands by his decision to marry

Canon Jeremy Pemberton has been unable to take up a promotion at another hospital because of his revoked licence

A priest who had his licence revoked after he became the first gay clergyman to marry says he still believes it was "the right thing to do".

Canon Jeremy Pemberton, a chaplain at Lincoln Hospital, was told he could not work as a priest in Nottinghamshire.

He married his long-term partner in April, after pastoral guidance was issued on same-sex marriages.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Mr Pemberton said he had not intended to be controversial or political.

Mr Pemberton, from Southwell, Nottinghamshire, said his wedding to Laurence Cunnington had been "wonderful" but "clouded by anxiety".

Jeremy Pemberton said the couple made a "careful and conscientious decision"

"I knew it was going to be controversial but we had planned our wedding several months before the bishop's pastoral guidance came out," he told BBC Nottingham.

"In the end we thought to go ahead with what we think is the right thing to do.

"It was a careful, conscientious decision of two people that loved each other and wanted to commit to each other for life.

"We wanted to take up the right that we have now to be married like any other couple."

'Treated inconsistently'

Mr Pemberton was told he could no longer officiate as a priest in Nottinghamshire after diocese officials said clergy must "model the Church's teaching".

Mr Pemberton describes himself as an activist for LGBT equality in the Church

This week he was blocked by the acting Bishop for Southwell and Nottingham from taking up a promotion as chaplaincy and bereavement manager in the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust.

"I was disappointed but I wasn't surprised," he said.

"I think I have been treated inconsistently and don't think I have been treated fairly in that I have not been put through a disciplinary process.

"Penalties have just been imposed on me by the bishops out of the air and there isn't any recourse.

"If they really thought I had done something very bad they could have started a procedure against me... but that hasn't happened."

Gay marriage became legal in the UK in March but the Church of England has not accepted the change.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the acting Bishop for Southwell and Nottingham, Rt Rev Richard Inwood, said: "In light of the pastoral guidance and for reasons of consistency, I am unable to issue a licence to Jeremy Pemberton for the post."