As a proposed gay marriage bill heads
to committee in Britain's House of Lords, opponents say they'll keep
fighting.
With a voice vote on Tuesday the
chamber approved the bill in the second reading and overwhelmingly
rejected an amendment aimed at derailing the project. The House of
Commons approved the measure last month. While it is possible for a
bill to be defeated this late in the process, the likelihood is
small.
The Coalition for Marriage, which
opposes passage, released a video on Wednesday in which it insisted
that the debate was not yet over.
“This week the House of Lords failed
to defeat the government's bill to redefine marriage,” Dr. Sharon
James says in the clip. “That's obviously disappointing to all of
us who care about marriage. But it's not all over yet.”
“The bill has several hurdles to
overcome in the House of Lords and it could yet fall.”
“It was very clear from Monday
night's debate that many peers were deeply upset at the undemocratic
way that this bill is being rammed through parliament. Peers said
the government lacked any mandate from the voters, there had not been
proper parliamentary scrutiny, and the bill threatened to undermine
marriage. That's a great base to build on.” (The video is
embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)