We are a group of people, Parliamentarians and others, who have come together to win the freedom of same sex couples to marry, and to ensure that religious freedom is protected.
What we believe
1. Our core belief is that marriage is an important institution that should be cherished and promoted. When two people love each other and are willing to commit publicly to a lifelong relationship, society is enriched and strengthened. As such, marriage should be open to all, regardless of sexuality.
2. We recognise that civil partnerships were an important step forward in giving legal recognition to same sex couples. But civil partnerships are not marriages, which express a particular and universally understood commitment.
3. We feel strongly that religious freedom must be protected. This means that religious communities should be allowed to conduct same-sex marriages if they choose, but equally none should be compelled to do so. The strongest legal safeguards must be put in place to guarantee this freedom.
4. While the majority of the public, including people of faith, support same sex marriage, we appreciate that some people have a different view, including many who are not homophobic but have a profound religious conviction about the nature of marriage. We believe that this debate should be conducted in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding.
We hope you find our website interesting, and that you are able to support our campaign.
If you do, let us know! You can sign up to hear more from us too.
| Tonight, the House of Commons passed the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill by 366 votes to 161- a majority of 205. Once again, around half of Conservative MPs supported the freedom to marry. Welcoming the passage of the Bill to the House of Lords, where the Bill will receive its' Second Reading on June 3rd, Paul Swaddle, Conservative Party National Convention President 2012/13, said: "Today the House of Commons passed the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill with with a resounding majority. Read more  Following on from our January round-up on the state of public opinion on same sex marriage, the team has updated our polling summary. All independent polling continues to show a majority of the public continue to support same sex marriage. Moreover, the Coalition for Marriage now seem to poll only on specific aspects of the policy in order to attack it - they have conceded that the public do support this measure. |
Here’s a tale of two worlds. Last week, Delaware and Minnesota became the latest states in the US to allow gay marriage. Twelve states and the District of Columbia now do so, and more are likely to follow. In the same week, a headline in the Kuwait Times screamed, “Over 200 homos and lesbians held in countrywide net cafe raids.” Read more Sign the letter by following this link ****Update 12:11 21/02/13 - More than 500 Conservative Party activists have now sign a letter supporting same sex marriage**** ****Update 12:56 20/05/13 - Now more than 400 Conservative Party supporters, senior activists and association chairmen have signed the letter supporting the move to legalise same sex marriage**** Equal Marriage - An Open Letter to The Prime Minister Read more John Stuart Mill held "that the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others." Take, then, the Quakers, who wish to conduct gay marriages. At present the law forbids them from doing so. What harm will it do to others, or to society, to allow Quakers to solemnise a marriage between two people who love each other and want to commit to a faithful, lifelong partnership? |