Gay Marriage Salvaged

Labour has rescued the government's proposal from the Doldrums. The bill has majority in the House of Commons but Tory MP Tim Loughton was determined to go against the will of the majority and added a wrecking amendment. Loughton added a clause which extended civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples. The amendment would cause the bill to be held up for several more years. The amendment was a problem as it had the support of the Labour Party as well as many back-bench Conservatives. Earlier last week the Coalition government issued a warning to Labour, claiming that their support for the amendment could result in the whole bill failing.

With the very real chance that they could cause the bill to fail, Labour has pulled support for the amendment and instead will create its own bill in its place. This has thankfully killed the amendment. This should mean that the UK will have passed same-sex marriage by the end of this parliament. It's about time the UK joined the march for LGBT rights. The mother of parliaments must move forward.

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In global news, last week was excellent for gay rights as France and Brazil legalised same-sex marriage nationwide! They join New Zealand as well as Minnesota, Rhode Island and Delaware as jurisdictions that have legalised same-sex marriage just this year!