Coalition Government to launch consultation on gay marriage

September 17, 2011

David Cameron {jcomments off}The UK coalition government is to follow Scotland’s lead and launch a consultation on the gay marriage.

The Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government will launch a consultation on the process allowing gay couples to marry in March. There are some estimates that gay marriage will be legalised and available to gay couples by 2015. Pink News reports that David Cameron “personally intervened” to ensure the consultation took place and that the law on gay marriages were changed.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg have both spoken of their support for full gay marriage before. Labour leader Ed Miliband also spoke of his support for gay marriage during the leadership contest for the party stating “equal but different” was not good enough. In Scotland the SNP government has launched a consultation on introducing gay marriages and a recent survey suggested 61% of people in the country supported such a move. The notoriously anti-gay Catholic Church has spoken out against the consultation in Scotland in several vicious attacks on homosexuality.

The consultation by the Westminster government is only for “civil marriages” and not “religious marriages”. While some faiths would be totally opposed to religious gay marriages others, such as the Quakers, have been openly calling for them. However, the consultation by the Coalition Government will be heralded as a success by gay marriage campaigners and a move in the right direction.

Civil Partnerships, which are only open to gay couples, were introduced by the Labour government in 2005. While they were welcomed by gay rights campaigners at the time very quickly the issue of gay marriage arose. In America New York recently legalised gay marriages and several Hollywood actors, such as Anne Hathaway, have spoken of their support for such unions. Other American states though are perusing civil unions instead or even marriage bans on homosexual couples.