If you can’t attend, email the Lords via LobbyALord.org Join us outside the House of Lords as peers vote for the last time on the same-sex marriage Bill. This vote will determine whether or not the Lord’s will allow marriage equality to become law. This is our big final push for marriage equality. -- “The 15 July is the last Lords vote. We suspect there may be more last-ditch attempts to derail the legislation. “After the Lords vote next Monday, the same-sex marriage Bill will then go to the House of Commons for the final vote on 17 July. If it passes then, we will have won equal marriage. Bravo! “Please join us on 15 July to ensure the Lords know that we want and expect an end the ban on same-sex marriage. Send details of the rally to your friends. Bring them with you on 15 July. “With your help, we’ll win. “The religious and political opponents of same-sex marriage are an increasingly small and shrill minority who are out of touch with the tolerant, liberal-minded majority of British people. Their stand against marriage equality fuels homophobia and gives comfort to bigots everywhere. “They say they’re not homophobic but a person who opposes gay equality is homophobic in the same way that a person who opposes black equality is racist. -- “We need to keep lobbying the Lords just like we lobbied them on 3 and 4 June. Some church leaders and right-wing peers are still determined to derail the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. They may try to talk it out and may still introduce wrecking amendments. “Contrary to what the opponents of same-sex marriage claim, marriage equality has one of the highest public approval ratings of any government policy for many years. “According to a YouGov poll, 71% of the public, including 58% of religious people, believe same-sex couples should be permitted to get married in civil ceremonies in register offices. -- “The legislation seeks to ensure equal marriage rights for all. In a democratic society, everyone should be equal before the law. “Regardless of whether people agree with homosexuality or matrimony, the ban on same-sex marriage is homophobic discrimination and should be repealed,” said Ms Juggapah. Posted in Press Release | Leave a comment -- “The public is on our side. A Populus poll in 2009 found that 61% of the public believe: “Gay couples should have an equal right to get married, not just to have civil partnerships.” Only 33% disagreed. A similar level of support for heterosexual civil partnerships is very likely. “Soon after the ECHR appeal was filed in February 2011, the government announced its intention to consult on the issue of same-sex marriage. Mere coincidence? Perhaps. But the government was surely mindful that it will be required to explain to the ECHR its rationale for excluding gay couples from civil marriages and heterosexual couples from civil partnerships. It can now report to the ECHR that it is consulting. This consultation is, however, flawed. It is limited to same-sex marriage. “David Cameron mistakenly calculated that we’ll be satisfied with civil marriage equality. We won’t. So long as heterosexual couples remain banned from civil partnerships, which is the Prime Minister’s apparent intention, the Equal Love campaign will continue. We believe in straight equality just as passionately as we care about equal rights for lesbians and gay men. -- “In our estimation, there is a sizeable minority of heterosexual couples who would prefer a civil partnership. They dislike the patriarchal history and language of marriage; viewing civil partnerships as a more modern, egalitarian alternative. In the Netherlands, where civil partnerships are open to both gay and heterosexual couples, two-thirds of civil partners are straight men and women. We would expect a similar take-up by heterosexual couples in Britain, if civil partnerships were open to everyone. “David Cameron miscalculated by ruling out any legalisation of religious same-sex marriages, even by faith organisations – such as the Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Jews – who want to conduct them. This is an attack on religious freedom, as well as perpetrating homophobic discrimination. Moreover, given that the government has recently authorised religious same-sex civil partnerships, a continued blanket ban on religious same-sex marriages looks inconsistent and petty. “Some people argue: what’s there to consult about? In our view, homophobic discrimination is wrong and should therefore be abolished without delay. Would the government have a long drawn out consultation about repealing racist laws? I doubt it. It would immediately abolish them on the grounds that they were incompatible with a democratic society. Why should homophobic bans be treated any differently? ” said Mr Tatchell. -- “Dr Sentamu is a religious authoritarian who opposes equality. It is not a loving Christian value to demand legal discrimination against gay couples and to treat them as inferior, second class citizens. “The government is proposing to legalise same-sex marriages in register offices only. This will not affect churches. The Archbishop has no valid grounds for objecting to civil registrations that will ensure marriage equality for all couples. “The vast majority of the British people, including many Christians, support the right of same-sex couples to get married. Dr Sentamu is intolerant and out of touch. His stance colludes with homophobia. It brings shame and dishonour to the Church of England. -- Former East Enders star Michael Cashman MEP combines the roles of the Chair of Labour’s National Executive Committee with jointly co-ordinating the European Parliament’s LGBT Intergroup. He added: “Many MEPs from all political groups support equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. In the UK, this includes ending the ban on same-sex marriage and different-sex partnerships. “I am proud of my Labour MEP colleagues. It’s now up to Labour’s Westminster MPs to follow suit,” Michael said. -- Sadly, the Lib Dem Equality Minister, Lynne Featherstone, apparently with the support of the Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, is now actively backing discrimination. She plans to keep unequal laws, contrary to the Lib Dem’s election pledges. Specifically, Lynne is vowing to retain the prohibition on heterosexual civil partnerships and on religious same-sex marriages by faith organisations that want to conduct them. This is in direct defiance of what her party members voted for: equality. Nick Clegg has not dissented from her stance. We can only assume that he endorses it. -- She said at the start of this year that the consultation would begin in June. Then she postponed it until October. Now it has been put off until March next year. Why can’t the consultation start now? Despite all our requests, Lynne has failed to explain why this delay is necessary. I am not persuaded that there needs to be any consultation at all. The ban on same-sex marriage is homophobic discrimination and should therefore be repealed immediately. If black or Jewish people had been banned from marriage, the government would act swiftly to ensure marriage equality. There would be no long drawn out consultation period. There would be no appeasement of racists and anti-Semites. Why the double standards? -- The Netherlands has an equivalent to civil partnerships. Called registered partnerships, they are open to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The vast majority of Dutch civil partnerships are heterosexual ones. They are hugely popular and would be equally popular in the UK, if the government allowed straight couples to have them. To deny British heterosexuals the option of a civil partnership is profoundly wrong and unjust. This is bad enough. However, Lynne has also ruled that her consultation will not consider the option of ending the ban on religious marriages for lesbian and gay couples, even though some faith organisations – such as the Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Jews – have requested that they should be allowed to marry same-sex partners. Lynne says no. She says the ban must stay. This is a violation of religious freedom. While no religious body should be forced to perform same-sex marriages, those that support gay marriage should not be barred by law from doing so. I appeal to Lynne – and Nick Clegg – to rethink this ill-considered consultation timetable and its pro-discrimination parameters – to both ensure non-discrimination and to avoid an embarrassing defeat in the European Court of Human Rights.