Photograph by Procsilas Moscas
Same-sex couples will now be able to get married after the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill received Royal Ascent and has become law in England and Wales.
The legislation had cross-party support with the leadership of the Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats all backing the proposals. MPs decided to not oppose a number of minor changes agreed by the House of Lords yesterday, with Commons Speaker John Bercow greeted with cheers in the Commons chamber when he announced the bill had received Royal Assent.
The legislation may have received wide support from the public and from the party leaderships, but some backbenchers and peers have been focal in their disagreement with the bill, notably Conservative MP Sir Gerald Howarth, and peer Norman Tebbit.
The act will give same-sex couples the right to marry under the law, and religious organisations can “opt-in” to offering such gay weddings. The Church of England and Church of Wales will, however, be banned from offering same-sex weddings under the law.
Ministers will now also explore the possibility of eliminating how gay couples are treated differently under pension schemes, and discuss whether humanists will be allowed to carry out marriages.
Equal rights campaigners in Scotland and Northern Ireland are pushing for similar legislation, such as the published Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill, but the future of such legislation remains uncertain.
