Gay Marriage 'To Be Made Legal In Britain By 2015'

The coalition is to push ahead with plans for gay marriage following the personal intervention of David Cameron.

Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone will today unveil plans to legislate to bring in gay marriage before 2015.

The Equalities Minister will also announce that Britain should be a ‘world leader for gay rights’.












For whom the bells toll: David Cameron is backing legislation to legislate gay marriage.

Vowing to be a personal ‘champion for gay rights’, Miss Featherstone will risk controversy by arguing that the Coalition should go even further in future.

At present, gays and lesbians are allowed to enter civil partnerships, which offer most of the legal protections of marriage. But the term ‘marriage’ is not used.

Miss Featherstone will announce that a consultation will begin next March on allowing homosexuals to get married. A change in the law will follow the consultation.

Under the plans, same-sex couples will be able to have full marriages in registry offices, as heterosexual couples can.

But they will still be barred from getting married in churches and other religious buildings – even though some denominations want to offer the services. Coalition sources said ministers are determined to enact the change before the next election.

Downing Street made it clear that the Prime Minister had taken a strong personal interest in the move, and had insisted that progress be speeded up.

Under changes announced earlier this year, churches and other religious buildings will soon be able to host civil partnerships for the first time – although they will not be forced to do so.

The new move will be announced by Miss Featherstone, a divorced mother of two daughters, in a speech to the Lib Dem party conference in Birmingham today.


















Advocate: Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone.

She will say: ‘While on my travels as a champion for women’s rights, I am and will be a champion for gay rights too.

‘Britain must not get complacent. We are a world leader for gay rights, but there is still more that we must do.

‘In March, this Government will begin a formal consultation on how to implement equal civil marriage for same sex couples.

‘And this would allow us to make any legislative changes necessary by the end of this Parliament.

‘Civil partnerships were a welcome first step – but this party rejects prejudice and discrimination in all its forms.

‘And I believe that to deny one group of people the same opportunities offered to another is not only discrimination, but is not fair.’

Polls have shown that two-thirds of the public would support gay marriage.













Gay men could soon be allowed to marry in Britain as of 2015.

But Miss Featherstone’s emphasis on further steps will unsettle some Tories who backed Mr Cameron’s pledge to make the Government the most family-friendly in history.

The Coalition has pledged to consult on gay marriage on at least two occasions, but the lack of progress has forced Mr Cameron to intervene.

A Number 10 source said: ‘He was very keen to press ahead on this. This is something that the Prime Minister has taken a strong personal interest in.’

Last night Ben Summerskill, chief executive of gay rights group Stonewall, said: ‘This change will make a difference to a number of gay people who are concerned at the differing status of civil partnerships and marriage.

‘But it will not apply to churches and it seems unfair as a matter of religious freedom that if some denominations – such as the Quakers – wish to celebrate same-sex marriages, they should be barred from doing so.’

Former Tory Cabinet Minister Lord Tebbit expressed concerns about the Government’s enthusiasm for gay marriage.

He said: ‘I would have thought there were other priorities at a time like this.

There can be no such thing as gay marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others.’

Government Can't Rewrite Nature And Allow Gays To Wed - O'Brien

The leader of Scotland's Catholic community has warned that moves by MSPs to legalise gay marriage will be "strenuously opposed" by the Church.







Keith O'Brien said any attempt to redefine marriage would be ‘strenuously opposed'.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, in a strongly worded homily delivered at a mass for politicians in Edinburgh last night, claimed that allowing gay people to wed through a civil or religious ceremonies would be a "direct attack" on the institution of marriage.

However, the intervention sparked criticism from MSPs, with the openly gay leader of the Scottish Greens, Patrick Harvie, attacking the Cardinal's remarks as "absurd" and as an attempt to "suppress" the freedom of gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

The row came after the SNP government launched a 14-week consultation on allowing gay marriage - a change to the law that currently allows same-sex couples to enter a civil partnership, but bans the ceremony from church or other religious premises.

However, Cardinal O'Brien suggested that supporters of gay marriage wanted to "rewrite human nature" as he appealed to MSPs to oppose the proposed reform.

He said: "The Church esteems the institution of marriage as the most stable building block upon which any family can rest.

"The view of the Church is clear, no government can rewrite human nature; the family and marriage existed before the State and are built on the union between a man and woman.

"Any attempt to redefine marriage is a direct attack on a foundational building block of society and will be strenuously opposed."

There was also a sharply worded statement issued by the Bishops' Conference of Scotland yesterday, which suggested that the Scottish Government's consultation was "an exercise for justifying the campaign demands" of the "vociferous" gay rights lobby.

But Green MSP Mr Harvie attacked the Catholic Church's stance on gay rights and highlighted a Scottish Social Attitudes survey which revealed 60 per cent believe same-sex couples should have the right to marry.

"It's absurd to suggest that one marriage can undermine other marriages," he said.

"Just as non-Catholics respect Catholic marriages, so it's time for the Cardinal to start respecting the right of every adult to love who they please.

"The Cardinal should also remember that he doesn't speak for all people of faith, or even all Christians.

"There are many faith groups who want to conduct same-sex marriages for their members, and the Catholic Church seems determined to try and suppress their freedom to do so."

SNP MSP John Mason, who faced criticism for lodging a parliamentary motion that said no-one should be "forced" to approve of same-sex marriage, said he wanted "to encourage churches" to get involved in the debate about the proposals.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Our consultation, published last week, sets out that the Scottish Government tends towards the initial view that same-sex marriage should be introduced in Scotland but that faith groups and their celebrants should not be obliged to solemnise same sex marriages."