Queen gives gay marriage law royal assent

The Tablet (UK),
. July 17, 2013

The Queen today gave royal assent to the Government's same-sex marriage legislation.

The bill legalising same-sex marriage in England and Wales cleared the House of Lords without a vote on Monday and was approved by the House of Commons after a two-hour debate yesterday.

The first same-sex weddings are likely to be held in England and Wales next year.

The bishops' conference of England and Wales issued a lengthy statement reiterating the reasons why they had consistently opposed the legislation. They acknowledged that in receiving Royal Assent, the act marked a "watershed" in English law and heralded a "profound social change".

But they noted that the act "breaks the existing legal links between the institution of marriage and sexual complementarity", meaning that openness to children the responsibility of parents to remain together to care for children born into their family unit would be "no longer central".

They reiterated their concern about "the deficiencies in the process by which this legislation came to Parliament, and the speed with which it has been rushed through", but voiced gratitude to MPs and peers who had sought to get amendments added to include "more effective protection for religious freedom".

Amendments passed in the House of Lords have significantly strengthened the legal protections in the act for the Churches, they said.

But they said they were disappointed that a number of other amendments to safeguard freedom of speech and the rights of civil registrars to conscientious objection were rejected.

Catholic Truth, a protest group, has launched a petition calling on priests to refuse communion to Catholic MPs who voted in favour of the bill.