UK's House of Commons passed a bill legalizing gay marriage in the country assuring a safe passage through other legislative procedures.
A bill that legalizes gay marriage in Britain was passed Tuesday by the House of Commons. This move assures that the bill will easily move past all other legislative stages.
However, Prime Minister David Cameron was disappointed when he found out that more than half of the lawmakers in his Conservative Party voted against the bill. The debate lasted 6 hours and finally the bill won 400 votes while 175 votes went against it.
The bill makes it legal to marry a person of the same sex. The Church of England and other faiths have been exempted from performing such ceremonies if they don't wish to. The bill is yet to pass the House of Lords' verdict and this could take some time if any delay is constructed by opposing parties. However, Cameron is hopeful that this bill could be made a law by this summer.
Of the 303 Conservative members, 126 voted in favor of the bill, while 136 votes were drawn against it. Five members were absent and 35 members registered no votes at all. Most of the votes that favored the passing of the bill were from opposition Labour Party and the center-left Liberal Democrats.
However, some members from the Conservative Party voiced their strong opinion against the bill.
"It is not possible to redefine marriage," said Sir Roger Gale, a right-wing backbencher. "Marriage is the union between a man and a woman, has been historically, remains so. It is Alice in Wonderland territory, Orwellian almost, for any government of any political persuasion to seek to come along and try to rewrite the lexicon. It will not do."
As Cameron attempts to modernize the beliefs of the Conservative Party.
"Today is an important day," he said. "I am a strong believer in marriage. It helps people commit to each other, and I think it is right that gay people should be able to get married too."
