British Prime Minister David Cameron reaffirmed his support for gay marriage on Wednesday, a day before he was scheduled to meet with Mitt Romney, a strong opponent of such unions.

“I think marriage is a great institution – I think it helps people to commit, it helps people to say that they're going to care and love for another person,” Cameron said during a 10 Downing Street reception. “It helps people to put aside their selfish interests and think of the union that they're forming. It's something I feel passionately about and I think if it's good enough for straight people like me, it's good enough for everybody and that's why we should have gay marriage and we will legislate for it.”

Religious leaders have criticized the government's plan to legalize marriage equality by 2015.

“I run an institution – the Conservative Party – which for many, many years got itself on the wrong side of this argument, it locked people out who were naturally Conservative from supporting it and so I think I can make that point to the Church, gently,” Cameron added.