UK Parliament to pass gay marriage law before Valentine's Day - Polidicks

[B]Oops title is actually not entirely accurate[/B] They will put it to a second reading before Valentine's Day, which does involve a vote. But then it will go to committee and come back for a third reading, which is when the House of Commons finally passes it [url]http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/01/14/exclusive-mps-to-vote-on-same-sex-marriage-bill-before-valentines-day/[/url] [quote=PinkNews][B]PinkNews understands that MPs will debate and vote on the government’s equal marriage plans for England and Wales before next month’s Valentine’s Day.[/B] Despite reports over the weekend of David Cameron facing renewed pressure to abandon the policy from backbench Conservative MPs, a senior government source has told PinkNews that a second reading of the government’s proposed equal marriage bill will take place before 14 February 2013. The government remains on course to introduce its bill this month, with a full debate by MPs and vote expected before parliament goes into recess on Thursday 14 February. Despite claims that almost half of Tory MPs could vote against the bill, Mr Cameron is likely to secure a majority in the Commons with the support of Labour and Liberal Democrat members. The bill would then be subjected to the scrutiny of an MP’s committee before making its way back to the Commons for a third reading – at which point it would then enter the House of Lords. Some Parliamentarians have already predicted that the bill could face difficulty in the upper chamber. Equal marriage opponent Stuart Jackson MP tweeted in December that it would get “massacred”. A ComRes poll for the anti-gay Coalition for Marriage last week showed that three quarters of Conservative peers and 67% of cross-bencher peers surveyed said the government should call a halt to its plans to introduce equal marriage. However, in a sign the government remains determined to get its planned equal marriage legislation on the statute book within this year, Culture Secretary Maria Miller has refused to rule out using the Parliament Act to override the Lords in the event the bill becomes stalled. Out4Marriage, the equal marriage campaign group said that it “looks forward with anticipation for the publication of the first draft of the bill and for the opportunity for MPs to finally show whether or not they support equality.”[/quote] [url]http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/01/16/majority-of-mps-indicate-that-they-will-vote-for-same-sex-marriage-in-england-and-wales/[/url] [quote=PinkNews][B]A majority of MPs in the House of Commons have indicated that they intend to vote for the introduction of same-sex marriage in England and Wales.[/B] The figures, collated by the Coalition for Equal Marriage show that 330 MPs have said in interviews or letters to constituents that they will support David Cameron and Nick Clegg’s planned legislation that will go to a vote before Valentine’s Day next month. In contrast just 126 have said that they oppose the legislation. As 4 Sinn Fein election victors have not taken up their seats in the House of Commons, the theoretical number of MPs needed for an absolute majority is 324. However, very few pieces of legislation are ever voted on by every member of the House of Commons. No party is issuing a ‘whip’ on the vote, so MPs are under no obligation to attend and it is expected that a number of Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs will choose to abstain rather than vote in for or against the legislation. However, the House of Lords remains the big unknown. Very few peers have indicated whether they will even attend a vote let alone support changing the law. Yvette Cooper, the Labour shadow home secretary and shadow minister for equalities said: “The Labour Party strongly supports same sex marriage. When couples love each other and want to make a commitment, it should be a cause for celebration, not discrimination. Those couples should be able to marry, regardless of their gender or sexuality. “My shadow cabinet colleagues and I will continue to be loud and proud supporters of same sex marriage, and I’m pleased there is a clear parliamentary majority in support of the forthcoming legislation.” Conservative MP and former Home Office minister Nick Herbert said: “With the polls showing that a clear majority of the public support equal marriage and now evidence that a majority of MPs will back it, too, this is a reform whose time has come. Its opponents should recognise the democratic will and focus on ensuring legitimate protections for religious freedom rather than trying to frustrate a change that is so widely supported.” Stephen Gilbert, the Liberal Democrat MP that proposed the party’s policy to support marriage equality said: “Liberal Democrats have long fought for equal marriage and now we’re in government we’re committed to making it happen. That a majority of MPs have come out in favour of is a very significant step forward. The right to love and commit to who you chose is a fundamental one and whether you’re straight or gay, the civil institution recognising that love and commitment should be the same.” James Lattimore and Conor Marron, the couple that founded the Coalition for Equal Marriage said that the numbers show that changing the law was supported by the public and by MPs. A recent ICM poll showed that 62% of all voters and 52% of Conservative voters support making marriage equal.[/quote]

That's quicker than I expected. Awesome. [editline]20th January 2013[/editline] Actually reading the source, it isn't accurate to say parliament will pass it before valentine's day, they'll just pass it to the next stage before then. [editline]dadas[/editline] Oh you edited it just as I was posting that, haha.

One leap forward, lets hope we don't end up going two steps back.

Reading this makes me see that we are actually moving forwards.

that's smart of them that way a crap load will say " Honey let's get married on Valentine's Day " and boost a crap load of money into the economy

My brother plans to propose to his boyfriend on Valentine's Day if this passes. :grin:

[QUOTE=Matt-;39296091]My brother plans to propose to his boyfriend on Valentine's Day if this passes. :grin:[/QUOTE] he should marry him on Valentine's Day