QAForever

LGBTQ* Breaking News You May Have Missed

Following from CNN.com

UK lawmakers approve same-sex marriage in first vote

By Laura Smith-Spark and Atika Shubert, CNN

updated 3:47 PM EST, Tue February 5, 2013

London (CNN) — UK lawmakers approved Tuesday the second reading of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, an issue that has prompted widespread rebellion within Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party.

The 400-175 vote indicated a significant majority of members support the measure. However, the legislation has to clear more parliamentary hurdles to become law.

It faces another vote in the House of Commons and a vote in the House of Lords.

Before Tuesday’s vote, three top party members appealed to Conservative MPs to get behind the controversial legislation in a letter published in the Telegraph newspaper.

The letter, signed by Chancellor George Osborne, Foreign Secretary William Hague and Home Secretary Theresa May, said that passing the bill is “the right thing to do at the right time.”

The institution of marriage has evolved over time, the letter said, while “attitudes towards gay people have changed.”

  Read more HERE