Today the British House of Commons gave for a second time its overwhelming approval to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, voting 366 to 161 at the bill’s third reading.  In February, the same body overwhelmingly approved the bill by a vote of 400 to 175 at its second reading. The bill, which would legalize [...]

Today the House of Commons considered several amendments to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill during the Report Stage of the legislation. The bill would legalize marriage for same-sex couples in England and Wales. Amendments intended to weaken the bill were rejected by wide margins, including an amendment (New Clause 3) that would have allowed [...]

Like so many Roman Catholic voters, parliamentarians, legislators and governors have done around the world, Britain’s Roman Catholic Members of Parliament voted overwhelmingly last week in support of the UK Equal Marriage bill. “Among the Catholic MPs who cast ballots in the landmark February [5] vote, 47 favored the government’s proposal, and only 28 opposed [...]

Coalition for Marriage, the UK version of National Organization for Marriage, posted a video last week claiming that passage of the UK equal marriage bill will lead to the legalization of polygamous marriages in England and Wales. On Feb. 5 the House of Commons overwhelmingly approved the equal marriage bill by a vote of 400 to [...]

Yesterday the UK’s House of Commons overwhelmingly approved the equal marriage bill by a vote of 400 to 175. A full 70% of MPs, more than a supermajority, voted for civil equality. How does the UK’s anti-gay Coalition for Marriage respond to their sound defeat? “I am pleased that we achieved a very strong ‘no’ [...]

After almost six hours of debate during which over 70 Members of Parliament aired their views, the British House of Commons approved the Equal Marriage bill by a vote of 400 to 175. The bill, introduced by PM David Cameron, divided the ruling Conservative Party but passed with strong support from Labour Party and Liberal [...]

The Oxford Union, the world-renowned British debating society which largely draws its membership from Oxford University, has invited Scott Lively to participate in a gay rights debate on Thursday, Jan. 17. Scott Lively is described on the debate’s information page as a “US Attorney, author & campaigner” — a deceptively innocuous description for a man [...]

The government of the United Kingdom, currently led by a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition, is expected to begin the process of removing the ban on civil marriage for same-sex couples this week. The process begins when the Government Equalities Office officially launches a 12-week public consultation process. Barred from civil marriage law in the UK, same-sex [...]

The opposition of the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy to marriage equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people is legendary.  Not only does the Catholic Church lobby for anti-equality constitutional amendments and against marriage equality laws, it has been known to fundraise for those efforts and circulate referendum petitions during Holy Mass while the [...]

Tuesday, December 15 the British House of Lords is scheduled to debate the Equality Bill.  The stated purpose of the bill is “to harmonise discrimination law, and to strengthen the law to support progress on equality.”  In other words, the bill would consolidate and streamline the current hodge-podge of discrimination law as well as bring [...]