Tag Archives: Parliament

Today the House Of Lords is debating same-sex marriage for the third and final day of the bill’s committee stage. Pink News is running a live-blog. Watch the video live-stream.

A committee in the House of Lords is today debating the many proposed amendments to Britain’s marriage equality bill. Watch live here. Pink News is running a live blog and you can follow along here.

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 …

Gay Star News reports on the latest bid to torpedo Britain’s marriage bill: Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord George Carey is trying to wreck gay marriage in England and Wales by creating a new gold standard only straights can be part of – ‘traditional marriage’.  As a member of the House of Lords, he is proposing to amend the Marriage …

The Church of England today formally announced that it will no longer object to Britain’s same-sex marriage bill as it has become apparent to them that a clear majority of Parliament supports it. In a short statement, the established Church said that the scale of the majorities in both the Commons and Lords made clear that it is the will …

Yesterday afternoon the London Gay Men’s Chorus performed Erasure’s A Little Respect outside of the House of Lords.

Britain’s right-leaning Telegraph reports: Despite vocal opposition from the Church to the Government’s plans to allow same-sex couples to marry, it is understood that senior officials have personally urged bishops to stay away from this week’s vote. They fear that a large bloc of clerics turning up to vote down the bill could rebound on the Church, reopening questions over …

“There are moments that make you really proud to be an MP. Tonight was one of those as the Commons gave the Marriage Bill its third reading. [snip] I want to say to LGBT teenagers watching this bill progress: I know there is still more to do before our fight for equality is won. I know that some of you …

Via the Telegraph: The legalisation of gay marriage is poised to be approved by MPs today after surviving a Tory backbench bid to derail it. The Coalition avoided embarrassment after a last-minute deal with Labour to save the bill. Some 56 Conservative backbenchers – half the number predicted – backed a backbencher’s amendment the Government warned could fatally delay the …

The House Of Commons is set to finalize the approval of same-sex marriage around 7PM London time. The Coalition 4 Marriage has just posted an “urgent call” for Christians to gather outside Parliament beginning at 5PM local time for a last-ditch plea to God, who is presently busy destroying Oklahoma.

The House Of Commons has begun debate of the Report Stage of its marriage equality bill. The official website of Parliament provides the above chart of how the bill is due to progress. The BBC reports: Proposals to legalise same-sex marriage in England and Wales are being debated, with ministers pledging to press on despite opposition from some MPs. MPs …

Openly gay Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Nigel Evans was arrested yesterday and charged with one count of rape and one count of sexual assault after complaints were filed by two men. Evans has been released on bail. “Yesterday, I was interviewed by the police concerning two complaints, one of which dates back four years, made by two …

Two-time Oscar winner Glenda Jackson has been a Labour member of Parliament for 21 years. Watch her blistering takedown of Thatcherism. (Via Boy Culture)

Over on AmericaBLOG, John Aravosis quotes a British source on how bills proceed to law in Parliament.  British commenters here on JMG have been weighing in with similar information, but I figure we Yanks could all use the lesson. Before becoming a law, a bill goes thru these stages: 1st reading – effectively announcing that the bill has been published. …

Openly gay Tory MPs Mike Freer, Nick Herbert, and Margot James gave three of today’s best speeches.

Via the Guardian’s live blog, I’ve tried to compile their lengthy listing on how the House of Commons voted today.  This is what I came up with so far. Labour 217 Yes, 22 No Conservatives (Tories) 136 Yes, 144 No Liberal Democrats 44 Yes, 4 No Plaid Cymru (Wales) 4 Yes, 0 No. Democratic Unionists (Northern Ireland) 0 Yes, 8 …