Celebrities Reaction To Gay Marriage Vote

Various celebrities have given their reactions to Tuesday’s vote in the House of Commons to allow gay and lesbian couples in England and Wales to marry.

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was passed by a big majority in the House of Commons on Tuesday; 400 MPs voted in favour with 175 voting against giving a majority of 225. The “rebellion” by Conservative MPs was less than some right-wing papers were predicting with 136 voting against the government; estimates were claiming up to 180 would.

Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and David Cameron have all welcomed the passing of the bill and given their own reaction to the news. The debate and vote in the House of Commons was closely followed by many on Twitter and following the results various celebrities Tweeted their reaction. Below is just a selection of such Tweets.

Recent Celebrity Big Brother winner, and former X Factor hopeful, Rylan Clark tweeted “Now whoever is in love with someone can show that love with marriage regardless of their sexuality. Finally x”

Girl-group The Saturdays were amongst the first to give their support to the Out4Marriage campaign: “What an important night for equal rights here in the UK! “Been a long time coming”

Stephen Fry was also amongst the first to record a video message for Out4Marriage and unsurprisingly he welcomed Tuesday’s vote. “Whoop!!!!!! 400-175!!!! Now that’s a majority!! A great day in the slow but glorious history of British progress and fairness”

Openly gay actor Russell Tovey, who appears in BBC Three sitcom Him and Her, tweeted “Marry Me? X” at the news.

Harry Derbidge, formerly of TOWIE, echoed the sentiments of many gay and lesbian person around the country with his tweeted “It makes me so happy now to know that when I met the right guy and everything works out I can MARRY him! :D”
Leading gay magazine Attitude welcomed the vote but did air a voice of caution “There’s still more hurdles to jump over yet. Not quite there. We’ll have the Lords soon. Yikes. But it’s a great start”

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill is widely expected to face strong opposition from the House of Lords and could very well be defeated in there. Experts predict the coalition government may have to use legalisation to push the bill through the Lords.

ATV Today’s own Queenie Le Trout, a long-term supporter of gay rights, also welcomed the vote. “I fail to see any argument against giving a couple the right to equality; at long last gay and lesbian couples will have a relationship that will be, to society, equal to a heterosexual relationship. For those who don’t like or want a gay marriage perhaps the time has come to wake up and realise you are in the 21st century and not the 11t!”

[Written by Martha Kirkpatrick]