THEGAYUK

Tag: Gay Marriage

All the latest breaking news on gay and same-sex marriage. Browse The THEGAYUK’s complete collection of features, articles and updates on gay and same-sex marriage.

  • Father freaks out after his 3-year-old son told about gay marriage

    Father of pre-school boy worried that ‘same-sex’ marriage is being discussed with children as young as three.

    In a letter published by the Belfast Telegraph a father writes that ‘a homosexual’ told his son, 3, that ‘when they grew up, they could get married to a girl, or a boy.’

    The letter begins:

    ‘MANY of your commentators have speculated as to what the wider implications of allowing same-sex marriages will be on society. I was given a stark illustration of this at the weekend.’

    The man’s son, (names have been withheld), asked what marriage was, the father’s response was, ‘when a man and woman loved each other very much and wanted to spend their lives together.’

    His son then told him that boys could get married too.

    ‘Apparently, his carer at nursery, a homosexual, told the entire class that he had great news: when they grew up, they could get married to a girl, or a boy.

    Surely, my son is too young to have this discussion? If I were to complain, however, I would be labelled a bigot.’

     

    The same-sex marriage bill has been debated and voted upon by the UK’s MPs and Lords and successfully passed the bill, which will now go to committee and the UK could be celebrating its first same-sex marriage in the summer of 2014.

  • Lords vote in Favour of Gay Marriage

    In an unprecedented and historic move, Peers in the House of Lords have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the same-sex marriage bill.

    After two days of heated debate in the House of Lords, Peers voted in favour of same-sex marriage, after Lord Dear, former Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police Force tabled a ‘wrecking’ and ‘fatal’ amendment potentially denying the same-sex marriage bill its second reading.

    Peers voted 390 votes to 148, a majority of 242 votes meaning that the Lords allowed the passage of the bill to the committee stage.

    Taking to Twitter human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell wrote,

    “Lords vote a landslide victory for love, marriage & equality: 390 in favour, 148 against. YOUR lobbying efforts helped us win. HUGE thanks

    “With this huge Lords victory, we are on schedule for the first same-sex weddings late this summer. Hurrah”

    The debate initially commenced on Monday at 3:00pm and continued until 10:45pm, it resumed on Tuesday afternoon and concluded with Peers voting.

    Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill said,

    “‘We’re absolutely delighted. We always expected a tough challenge in the House of Lords, and Lord Dear’s “fatal motion” – very rarely used – demonstrates the lengths to which a minority of peers are, sadly, still prepared to go to deny full equality to lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

    “In the last 24 hours alone, opponents of equality in the House of Lords have compared loving, committed relationships to incest and polygamy. Britain’s 3.7 million gay people don’t deserve to be second class citizens in their own country. A tough fight lies ahead and we’ll continue to work tirelessly every single day to get equal marriage through the Lords. At Stonewall, we fight to win.”

  • UK Government delay gay marriage vote

    A vote due to take place on Monday 3rd June to legalise same-sex marriage in the UK has been delayed by a day.

    The bill, which is to be voted upon in the Lords will now take place on Tuesday 4th June 2013 in the daytime after ‘supporters warned voting in the early hours could put the bill at risk’ reports Pinknews.co.uk

    Around 80 peers are due to debate the bill which raised concerns that the vote could have been delayed until 2.00AM.

    Speaking to Huffington Post, shadow equalities minister Baroness Thornton said, ‘significant number of peers who wanted to support the bill would not be “strong enough to stay until 3am in the morning”.

    The bill was debated and voted upon in the House of Commons and must be voted on in the House of Lords in order to become law.

  • 150,000 take to the streets in Paris against gay rights

    The number of people who attended an anti-gay marriage rally has been revised from the organiser’s estimation of 1 million down to 150,000

    Seen as a last-ditch attempt to derail the new bill that legalises same-sex marriage in France, thousands of protesters demonstrated.

    PinkNews.co.uk has reported the number of those taking part at around 150,000 whilst the rally’s organisers, La Manif Pour Tous (Demo For All) have reported extreme figures of one million demonstrators.

    The new bill, which was signed into law by President Francois Holland, has caused much controversy in France, after it made France the 14th nation to recognise same-sex marriage earlier in May 2013

    Thousands of riot police were mobilised after an increasing number of the crowd became violent, when illegal teargas canisters and fireworks were reportedly used as weapons.

    Around 50 people were arrested – and a vehicle was seized after masks, banners and smoke bombs were discovered inside.

    The Independent reports:

    About 200 young people, many of them masked, pelted police lines with bottles, stones, fireworks and flares. The crowd – led bizarrely at one stage by a lone bagpiper – chased and beat up TV crews and press photographers. Police and gendarmes responded with tear gas and baton charges.

    There were surreal battle scenes on the Esplanade des Invalides beside the foreign ministry as 200 gendarmes in riot gear formed into defensive squares to beat off attacks from running bands of protesters. Although a hard core of about 200 hard-right youths started the fighting, many hundreds of other, soberly dressed, middle-class protesters cheered them on.

  • Overwhelming support for same-sex marriage

    Landslide support for Same Sex Marriage Bill in House of Commons, with the Bill passing its third reading by 366 votes to 161.

    MPs have again voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. Moments ago the Bill passed its Third Reading vote in the House of Commons by 366 votes to 161 – a majority of 205. The Bill will extend the legal form of marriage to lesbian, gay and bisexual people and permit religious denominations to celebrate such marriages should they wish. It now heads to the House of Lords for debate in June.

    In a statement Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill said,

    ‘This evening’s vote shows MPs are on the public’s side, as poll after poll shows a clear majority of people in Britain support equal marriage. Now that the Bill has cleared the Commons without any of the wrecking amendments tabled by opponents, we hope peers will show the same respect to public attitudes.

    ‘Sadly in recent weeks several peers have expressed deeply unpleasant views about gay people. Stonewall expects one of our toughest fights yet ahead of us. We’ll continue to work tirelessly every day to help secure this final modest measure of legislative equality.’

    The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill passed its Second Reading with a majority of 225 votes on 5 February. MPs rejected a wrecking amendment – by 375 votes to 70 – during the Bill’s Report Stage in the House of Commons on 20 May.

  • Gay marriage wrecking amendments fail

    Wrecking Amendments fail in marathon parliamentary debate on Gay Marriage.

    MPs in the House of Commons rejected an amendment tabled by those opposed to marriage equality, which would have prolonged further voting on the forthcoming bill to legalise same-sex marriage in the UK

    The amendment tabled by former families minister Tim Lougton MP, would have extended the option of civil partnerships to straight couples, which many supporters of same-sex marriage fear would delay or scupper the same-sex marriage bill altogether.

    The amendment was rejected by 375 votes to 70.

    Ben Summerskill from Stonewalls wrote in a statement,

    ‘The amendment, tabled by vocal opponents of equality, would have resulted in significant delays to the Bill’s implementation. Tonight’s (20th May) success means that the Bill has survived all of the attempts made thus far to undermine it.

    ‘Tomorrow (2st May) the Bill will have its Third Reading in the Commons before it heads to the House of Lords where, as always, we expect a very tough fight.”

    Equal Marriage and #AggressiveHomosexuals began trending on Twitter last night during the parliamentary debate after Sir Gerald Howarth MP, stated that,

    ‘…I fear the playing field is not being levelled I believe the pendulum is swinging so far the other way, and there are plenty in the aggressive homosexual community who see this as but a stepping stone to something even further…’

    Sir Gerald did not elaborate on what further steps would be.

  • Delaware Becomes 11th State To Legalise Gay Marriage

    Eleven states of fifty in the US now recognise same sex marriages, after Delaware’s state Senate approved the gay marriage bill 12-9 after a 3 hour debate.

    Just a week after Rhode Island passed a law recognising same sex marriage, Delaware has become the 11th state in the US to legally recognise gay marriage.

    However the bill, which comes into force on the 1st July, doesn’t offer same-sex couples any more rights or laws than they already have under civil unions.

    The state began recognising same-sex civil unions just under a year ago, the new bill is more of a symbolic win for the state’s many lesbian and gay people.

    The new law doesn’t force religious establishments to perform same-sex marriages that conflict with their beliefs, but under an existing law enforced in Delaware is a ban on business owners discriminating based on sexual orientation.

    According to The Republic.com Minnesota is next on the list of states to legalise gay marriage, the mid west state, is poised to make the new law, after a Democratic speaker of the state house said, ‘that a gay marriage bill endorsed by the governor and likely to pass in the state Senate also now has enough backing in his chamber. The House will vote on the measure Thursday, and if it passes, the Democratic-led Senate could vote on it as soon as Saturday.’

  • France Becomes 14th Nation To Legalise Gay Marriage

    France’s Government passes same-sex marriage in final vote in Parliament.

    France is ready to become the 14th nation on earth to legalise same-sex marriage after the National Assembly passed the bill in a vote.

    331 voted in favour, while 225 voted against – giving same-sex couples the legal right to marry.

    Pinknews are reporting that the final step in making marriage equality law in France is for the president, Francois Hollande to sign the bill.

    President Hollande as already given his formal approval.

    The revelation follows the news that New Zealand voted in favour of marriage equality last week.

    However there has been much tension in France surrounding the issue of gay marriage with one major organisation, La Manif Pour Tous (Demo For All), coordinating mass rallies in the French capital, Paris.

    Indeed, tensions where so high during voting that “legions” of police were assembled outside the National Assembly with water cannons.

    In January over 340,000 people took to the streets of Paris to demonstrate against the bill.

    A less successful attempt was orchestrated by La Manif Pour Tous in London in Trafalgar Square last month.

    A number of high profile homophobic attacks have also been reported in the last few weeks. On April 6th a gay couple were beaten in Paris and last weekend a young gay dancer, Raphaël Leclerc was beaten in Nice.

  • New Zealand MP Gives Powerful Speech On Gay Marriage

    New Zealand MP Maurice Williamson has delivered a powerful speech following the legalisation of gay marriage in the country.

    Watch the video here of MP Williamson attacking any far fetched ideas that gay marriage would doom New Zealand in an amusing yet powerful speech.

    ‘We are not declaring nuclear war on a foreign state, we are not bringing a virus in that could wipe out our agriculture sector forever, we are allowing two people who love each other to have that recognised and I can’t see what’s wrong with that.’

    ‘I also sir had a Catholic priest tell me that I was supporting an unnatural act. I found that quite interesting coming from someone who’s taken an oath of celibacy for his entire life.’

    Watch The Full Speech Here: Gay Marriage Speech By NZ MP

  • Gay Marriage Now Legal In New Zealand

    Early reports are coming through that Gay Marriage is now legal in New Zealand.

    Reports coming through from Twitter reveal that politicians voted 77 for marriage equality and 44 against.

    According to @MarriageEquality on Twitter, New Zealand is the 13th country in the world to legalise gay marriage.

    Gay marriage is legal the following countries: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay

    The bill introduces marriage equality for all regardless of sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

    Meanwhile the hash tag #MarriageEquality overshadowed Margaret Thatcher’s hash tag #thatcherfuneral on Twitter. The former prime minister of the United Kingdom has her funeral today in London after dying a week ago from a stoke.

    Margaret Thatcher was known for her divisive leadership and in terms of gay rights was the country’s premier, when the first anti-gay law in 100 years was enacted in the form of Section 28, which forbade the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools in the UK.

  • Human Rights Campaign Explains SCOTUS

    We’ve all been hearing about about ‘Scotus’ (Supreme Court Of the United States) recently and for those living outside the United States, it could be quite confusing.

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