House of Lords Backs Gay Marriage in England and Wales

LGBT Couples Can Marry Next Spring

Queen Elizabeth is expected to give her approval (“Royal Assent”) to the same-sex marriage bill by the end of the week of July 15, 2013. With her signature, the concept of marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman comes to an end.  The legislation is championed by Prime Minister David Cameron and brings to an end the debate which has divided the Conservative Party and sometimes pitted Church against State.

In The House of Lords

Peers in the House of Lords, the unelected second chamber of the UK Parliament for making and shaping laws, gave their verbal affirmations to the third reading of the Government’s bill without a formal vote. Earlier, the other government branch, The House of Commons had passed the bill 390 to 148.

The bill will enable gay couples to get married in both civil and religious ceremonies in England and Wales, but not Scotland.or Ireland.   The Church of England is forbidden to perform same-sex ceremonies although the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham Jones, who leads the bishops in the Lords, commented that despite the Church’s opposition to gay marriage, legal recognition for gay relationships had made society “healthier.”  Heretofore, same-sex couples were relegated to civil partnerships.

In The House of Commons

The House of Commons, the lower chamber of parliament, backed the gay marriage bill in its third reading. It will next have a short debate set to occur on Tuesday, July 16th. Amendments to the bill will be introduced, and voted on, including provisions to hold reviews of equal pension survivor rights, humanist weddings and civil partnerships for opposite-sex couples.

Nick Clegg Praises

Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister of the UK and Lord President of the Council since 2010 as part of the coalition government headed by Prime Minister David Cameron, credited two people in particular for the passage of the vote in the eleventh hour:  Lynne Featherstone, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development and Baroness Liz Barker who writes for the Pink News,Co UK. Said Clegg: “All of you have been incredibly important in making sure that what was once felt or considered to be a rather radical idea will soon be the law of the land. People will look back on it and think what was all the fuss about?”

“‘A Victory for Love and Marriage ‘– LGBT Activist Peter Tatchell

Tatchell called the vote a defeat for discrimination after a twenty-year-long campaign. “Ending discrimination against same-sex couples in marriage law will overturn the last major legal discrimination against LGBT people in Britain.

Similarly, Ben Summerskill, Chief Executive of UK-based LGB Equality organization, Stonewall, said “the bill’s progress through Parliament shows that, at last, the majority of politicians in both Houses understand the public’s support for equality – thought it also reminded us that gay people still have powerful opponents. “

Coalition For Marriage Plans to Reinstate Traditional Marriage

Some of these opponents have grouped together to form the Coalition for Marriage, which orchestrated opposition to the bill.  It has a database of around 700,000 supporters through its petition and hopes to influence the 2015 election.

 

 

Gay Activists Don’t Think Queen Elizabeth’s Anti-Discrimination Charter Goes Far Enough

In Deference to Commonwealth Countries, Omits References to Gays and Lesbians

On March 11, 2013, Her Majesty the Queen,in a live broadcast, signed a new charter dubbed “a 21st Century Magna Carta” designed to stamp out discrimination against homosexuals and promote “empowerment” of women in a drive to boost human rights.  The document includes affirmations on democracy, human rights, international peace and security as well as freedom of expression.

The Queen’s charter states that signatories oppose “all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, color, creed, political belief or other grounds.”  It’s “the other” that annoys activists such as American Democratic political consultant, writer, and Americablogger John Aravosis.

Says Aravosis, a Washington lawyer, “ in 2013, I’m supposed to laud someone who doesn’t even have the moral and ethical fortitude to call me anything other than “other?”  Did Lincoln free the “others?”

“What is this? the 1980s?  I’m supposed to genuflect because the Queen was too embarrassed to mention the g-word and the t-word?”

The British Press says that the charter doesn’t specifically refer to gays and lesbians because it might offend the Commonwealth’s countries with anti-gay laws.  More than forty-one countries of the fifty-four within the Commonwealth still criminalize homosexuality.  Aravosis again takes offense: “So just in case that wasn’t clear to you – Queen Elizabeth won’t be mentioning gays or trans people in her anti-discrimination statement, lest she offend countries that discriminate.”

British Activists Have Their Say About Her Historic Pledge

Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell, initially praised Queen Elizabeth’s agreement.  “Although the clause rejects discrimination based on ‘other grounds’ implicitly includes a rejection of homophobic discrimination, The Queen has never publicly acknowledged the LGBT community since she was crowned in 1952.” Ben Summerskill, the Chief Executive of the gay and lesbian rights group Stonewall UK, says that “this is the first time that the Queen has publicly acknowledged the importance of the six percent of her subjects who are gay.” Columnist at The Guardian, Patrick Strudwick  remarked that “by refraining from using the word gay or gay rights, the head of the Commonwealth will in fact silence opponents of equality!  Gay people of the Commonwealth need its head to speak of them and to them, to protect them.”

Don’t Look A Gift Horse In the Mouth?

Is the Queen, 86, evolving?  Summerskill commented , “we would of course be much happier if the terms would be addressed and discussed openly.  But if addressing them obliquely is a first step, we should be happy about that. It would be foolish not to acknowledge this may be a first step towards equality in some Commonwealth countries.”