JMG: Blog Year Ten
JoeMyGod@gmail.com
Gay culture, short stories, politics, and fabulous disco trivia.
Follow JMG on Twitter!
Facebook page.
RSS Feed.
Labels: Canada, murder, Ottawa, Parliament
Amendment 85, introduced by Lord Armstrong of Ilminster, a life peer, was withdrawn following several peers noting that a similar amendment was voted on, and rejected on Monday; the first day of Report Stage. Baroness Thornton said the amendment was “ingenuous”, in that it “seeks to wreck the bill through secondary legislation”. She questioned how same-sex marriage undermines opposite sex marriage, and saying that the amendement would have undermined the very point of the bill.
Labels: Britain, House Of Lords, Parliament
Labels: Britain, House Of Lords, Parliament
Labels: Britain, House Of Lords, marriage equality, Parliament
Three members of the House Of Lords have introduced an amendment that would stop the marriage equality bill from going into effect until after also being approved in a national referendum to be held two or three years from now.
The amendment, tabled by Labour peer Lord Anderson of Swansea, Conservative peer Lord Cormack, and crossbench peer Lord Singh of Wimbledon, calls for a referendum on equal marriage to be held on 7 May 2015, or if that date is unsuitable, it would be required to take place before 1 June 2016. The question which would be raised for the referendum is: “At present, the law in England and Wales defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Should the law be changed to define marriage as the union of two people—whether a man and a woman, or woman and a woman, or a man and a man?”. The amendment states that, even if the bill is passed at all stages, it would not be able to come into effect until a majority of voters at the referendum vote in its favour.Another amendment on the table calls for the creation of a separate marriage registry for straight couples.
Labels: Britain, House Of Lords, Parliament
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord George Carey is trying to wreck gay marriage in England and Wales by creating a new gold standard only straights can be part of – ‘traditional marriage’. As a member of the House of Lords, he is proposing to amend the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill so it recognizes ‘traditional marriage’ as only being between a man and a woman. Opposite-sex couples will then be put on a separate official marriage register if they want, so they don’t even have to share a list – let alone the institution of marriage – with gay and lesbian couples. It’s just one of the amendments designed to wreck the bill as it goes through committee stage in the House of Lords.It’s just one of the amendments designed to wreck the bill as it goes through committee stage in the House of Lords. The unelected upper chamber of the British parliament has already approved the bill going ahead, after being passed it by the elected House of Commons.But now Lords get to scrutinize it and suggest changes.The bill gets its third and final reading in the House Of Lords on July 15th.
Labels: bigotry, Britain, Church of England, crackpots, House Of Lords, marriage equality, Parliament, religion
The Church of England today formally announced that it will no longer object to Britain's same-sex marriage bill as it has become apparent to them that a clear majority of Parliament supports it.
In a short statement, the established Church said that the scale of the majorities in both the Commons and Lords made clear that it is the will of Parliament that same sex couples “should” be allowed to marry. The Bishop of Leicester, who leads the bishops in the House of Lords, said they would now concentrate their efforts on “improving” rather than halting an historic redefinition of marriage.Also announced today was that the Church of England will work through its bishops in the House of Lords to introduce a gay adultery clause into the marriage bill.
It represents a dramatic change of tack in the year since the Church insisted that gay marriage posed one of the biggest threats of disestablishment of the Church of England since the reign of Henry VIII. And it comes despite a warning from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, that the redefinition of marriage would undermine the “cornerstone” of society. The climb-down comes as the newest diocesan bishop in the Church of England said that support for gay marriage was “understandable” because of the way gay people had been treated in Britain in the past.
Under the current bill people in a same-sex marriages who discover that their spouse is unfaithful to them would not be able to divorce for adultery after Government legal experts failed to agree what constitutes “sex” between gay or lesbian couples. The bishops are also seeking to change a provision which says that when a lesbian woman in a same-sex marriage has a baby her spouse is not also classed as the baby’s parent. The result is that in some cases children would be classed as having only one parent.Here is today's official statement from the Bishop of Leicester:
“Both Houses of Parliament have now expressed a clear view by large majorities on the principle that there should be legislation to enable same-sex marriages to take place in England and Wales. It is now the duty and responsibility of the Bishops who sit in the House of Lords to recognise the implications of this decision and to join with other Members in the task of considering how this legislation can be put into better shape.
“The concerns of many in the Church, and in the other denominations and faiths, about the wisdom of such a move have been expressed clearly and consistently in the Parliamentary debate. For the Bishops the issue now is not primarily one of protections and exemptions for people of faith, important though it is to get that right, not least where teaching in schools and freedom of speech are concerned.
“The Bill now requires improvement in a number of other key respects, including in its approach to the question of fidelity in marriage and the rights of children. If this Bill is to become law, it is crucial that marriage as newly defined is equipped to carry within it as many as possible of the virtues of the understanding of marriage it will replace. Our focus during Committee and Report stages in the coming weeks and months will be to address those points in a spirit of constructive engagement.”
Labels: Britain, Church of England, House Of Lords, LGBT History, marriage equality, Parliament
Yesterday afternoon the London Gay Men's Chorus performed Erasure's A Little Respect outside of the House of Lords.
Labels: Britain, Gay Men's Chorus, London, marriage equality, Parliament, UK
Despite vocal opposition from the Church to the Government’s plans to allow same-sex couples to marry, it is understood that senior officials have personally urged bishops to stay away from this week’s vote. They fear that a large bloc of clerics turning up to vote down the bill could rebound on the Church, reopening questions over the right of bishops to sit in the Lords and even raise the prospect of disestablishment.The Church of England seats 26 bishops in the House Of Lords, which presently has about 750 members. Debate continues today and the vote is expected tomorrow.
They have also told bishops privately that they are convinced the bill, which includes legal “locks” to prevent clergy being forced to carry out same-sex weddings against their beliefs, is the “best” they could hope to achieve. It comes amid warnings of a “dangerous” constitutional stand-off between the Commons and the Lords if peers vote to reject the bill, which has already received strong backing from MPs.
Labels: Britain, Church of England, House Of Lords, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Parliament, religion
Labels: Britain, marriage equality, Parliament
The legalisation of gay marriage is poised to be approved by MPs today after surviving a Tory backbench bid to derail it. The Coalition avoided embarrassment after a last-minute deal with Labour to save the bill. Some 56 Conservative backbenchers - half the number predicted - backed a backbencher's amendment the Government warned could fatally delay the reform.The final debate is taking place right now. Watch it live.
Eight Labour MPs, three Liberal Democrats and three SDLP members joined the Tory critics in the voting lobbies. But the move to extend civil partnerships to heterosexual couples was easily defeated in a free vote by a large majority of 370. If, as expected, it clears its final stages in the Commons today, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill still faces stiff resistance in the House of Lords.
Labels: Britain, marriage equality, Parliament, UK
The House Of Commons is set to finalize the approval of same-sex marriage around 7PM London time. The Coalition 4 Marriage has just posted an "urgent call" for Christians to gather outside Parliament beginning at 5PM local time for a last-ditch plea to God, who is presently busy destroying Oklahoma.
Labels: Britain, crackpots, Parliament, religion
Proposals to legalise same-sex marriage in England and Wales are being debated, with ministers pledging to press on despite opposition from some MPs. MPs gave their support in principle to the landmark change in February but are now discussing proposed amendments. Conservative critics have tabled a proposal to allow heterosexual couples to enter into civil partnerships, if gay couples are allowed to get married.Watch the debate live here.
Ministers warn this could delay the bill and cost billions of pounds. As the legislation returned to the Commons on Monday, Downing Street played down any suggestions the bill would be dropped, saying the government "has a legislative programme and it is getting on with it".
The Marriage Bill was approved by a 225-vote majority when it was last debated by MPs in February, but nearly half of all Tories voted against it and many party activists remain deeply opposed to it in principle.
Labels: Britain, marriage equality, Parliament, UK
"Yesterday, I was interviewed by the police concerning two complaints, one of which dates back four years, made by two people who are well known to each other and until yesterday, I regarded as friends," Evans said in a statement to the media outside his home. "The complaints are completely false and I cannot understand why they have been made, especially as I have continued to socialise with one as recently as last week.
"I appreciate the way the police have handled this in such a sensitive manner and I would like to thank my colleagues, friends and members of the public who have expressed their support and, like me, a sense of incredulity at these events." His solicitor said afterwards that Evans was not intending to resign either as deputy speaker or as a member of parliament. Evans revealed he was gay in 2010, eight years after he was elected, saying he was "tired of living a lie".
Labels: Britain, gay politicians, Parliament, Tories
Two-time Oscar winner Glenda Jackson has been a Labour member of Parliament for 21 years. Watch her blistering takedown of Thatcherism.
Labels: Britain, Glenda Jackson, Margaret Thatcher, Parliament
Labels: Britain, England, LGBT History, lgbt rights., marriage equality, newspapers, Parliament, tabloids, UK, Wales
Over on AmericaBLOG, John Aravosis quotes a British source on how bills proceed to law in Parliament. British commenters here on JMG have been weighing in with similar information, but I figure we Yanks could all use the lesson.
Before becoming a law, a bill goes thru these stages:We're also told that the House Of Commons can automatically override the House Of Lords if they have not acted on a bill in one year, meaning that in the worse case scenario, Britain will see marriage equality in 2014. Is all this correct?
1st reading – effectively announcing that the bill has been published.
2nd reading – at which a substantive debate takes place on the principles underpinning the proposed law; a yes vote at this stage typically means that the bill will become law in a form somewhat close to the draft. [JMG: Today was the second reading.]
Committee Stage – a small committee of members of Parliament reviews the law, makes amendments; typically this is where bad drafting is fixed but also where lobbying really makes a difference.
Lords stage – the House of Lords votes on the Bill and sometimes has its own committees. If they vote no, the Bill goes back to the Commons. The Commons can insist on their own version and overrule the Lords but it’s a big pain to do it.
3rd Reading – once the Lords’ have passed the bill, the Commons votes one last time on the final amended version.
The shorter answer to your Q is that there is 98% chance of marriage equality happening – what is left to be argued over is how the law is implemented, how religious institutions are affected, tidying up how divorce law impacts gay married couples, etc. There will be a small number of attempts to amend the law, but on the whole this vote means the big fight is won.
I am totally guessing, but I’d say this will be law in late-September.
Labels: Britain, marriage equality, Parliament
