The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill passed its first hurdle in the House of Lords on June 4 with the bill being supported by peers with 390 votes to 148; opponents have vowed that ‘it’s not over yet’.
Lord Dear led the opposition to the Bill in the Lords. He said the legislation would: ‘Completely alter the concept of marriage as we know it’. He believed the bill was ‘ill-thought through’, had no democratic legitimacy and was ‘fatally flawed’. Government minister Baroness Warsi refused to back the bill saying that she had misgivings about its impact on faith groups.
There will be other votes in the Lords in the coming weeks where peers have the opportunity to pass key amendments, or vote against the whole bill. Many peers have apparently voted for the bill in order to take a closer look at it and pass amendments.
Tactics
The vote had originally been planned for June 3. However, the last-minute switch was perhaps made to ensure that a vote could take place rather than the bill ‘run out of time’ in the Lords because of peers making long speeches in opposition, thus stopping the vote being taken and the bill being able to be made law.
Some have cited actions, which could be called underhand, taken by the government, which have made it appear that the legislation is being pushed through regardless of what the electorate think. Some of these are:
1. The Bill went to the Lords in record time. Legislation has to have two clear weekends between debate in both Houses, which allows for amendments to be tabled, but in this case the weekends were in recess. This is highly unusual.
2. Despite a promise of a free vote in the Commons, MPs have reported heavy pressure at all stages to support the bill.
3. The brief committee stage involved very little interfaith dialogue. In reality, there was strong opposition from the Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist and Pentecostal communities, and yet, in practice, they were not consulted.
4. Same-sex marriage has never been voted on by the public, as it was not in any manifesto, nor has it featured in either a green or white paper or been in any Queen’s Speech.
Regarding petitions, the Coalition for Marriage (C4M) petition of 650,000 against the bill was equated in value to the Stonewall petition for the bill, which at around 60,000 was less than one tenth the size.
In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, 17 ministers and one archbishop expressed their concern about the consequences if the bill is passed in its current state. They said that thousands of young Christians who believe in traditional marriage will think twice before taking public sector jobs. The protections the government has promised to those with traditional views regarding marriage have been shown to be worthless with the recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (see opposite column). While Maria Millar, the Culture Secretary, was saying she would consider ways of protecting employees who held to traditional marriage, the government was funding lawyers to argue the exact opposite for three UK Christians, dismissed from their jobs due to their views on marriage.
The Prime Minister admitted that the country is divided on gay marriage. A survey by ITV News showed that three-quarters of local Conservative associations have lost members, and over half of them say it is because of gay marriage.
Keep praying
As the passing of this bill into law appears to be much closer after the Lords’ vote, it is good to remember that the true Lord’s light shines brighter in the darkness. Pray for:
• God’s guidance for all those involved in opposing the legislation
• People in the major parties to be able to speak openly about their opposition to the bill
• Party leaders to be publicly held to account for the less than transparent passage through Parliament that this bill has had.
