Three members of the House Of Lords have introduced an amendment that would stop the marriage equality bill from going into effect until after also being approved in a national referendum to be held two or three years from now.
The amendment, tabled by Labour peer Lord Anderson of Swansea, Conservative peer Lord Cormack, and crossbench peer Lord Singh of Wimbledon, calls for a referendum on equal marriage to be held on 7 May 2015, or if that date is unsuitable, it would be required to take place before 1 June 2016. The question which would be raised for the referendum is: “At present, the law in England and Wales defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Should the law be changed to define marriage as the union of two people—whether a man and a woman, or woman and a woman, or a man and a man?”. The amendment states that, even if the bill is passed at all stages, it would not be able to come into effect until a majority of voters at the referendum vote in its favour.
Another amendment on the table calls for the creation of a separate marriage registry for straight couples.