Few other civil liberties have spread so far and quickly than same-sex marriage legislation, and now marriage equality has extended into Great Britain where the lower house of the British parliament recently approved the final changes a same-sex marriage bill.
According to Huffington Post, on Monday, the House of Lords passed the bill and sent it back to the House of Commons for review before government amendments could made law.
And according to Reuters, on Tuesday, the House of Commons passed the bill after a two-hour debate, and even garnered support from Prime Minister David Cameron, who drew criticism from his own conservative party for backing the bill.
Prime Minster Cameron claimed to support the bill in an effort to show that his conservative party was progressive.
The bill now only needs to be approved by Queen Elizabeth, which is only a formality in Britain’s legal system.
“The title of this bill might be ‘Marriage’, but its fabric is about freedom and respect,” said Culture Secretary Maria Miller, “Freedom to marry regardless of sexuality or gender, but also freedom to believe that marriage should be of one man and one woman, and not be marginalized.”
Britain has now become the 18th nation to legally recognize same-sex marriage. We commend them on progressing in a direction that allows freedom for all. Check out some other nations who recently legalized same-sex marriage below. – nicholas robinson
