London Mayor Boris Johnson is among the
Conservatives involved in a new group campaigning for gay marriage in
Britain.
The group, announced in a letter to The
Sunday Telegraph, includes some of the nation's top Tories,
including Michael Gove, the Education Secretary and Patrick
McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary.
“Marriage should be open to all,
regardless of sexuality. We recognise that civil partnerships were
an important step forward in giving legal recognition to same sex
couples,” the group wrote. “But civil partnerships are not
marriages, which express a particular and universally understood
commitment.”
The government is expected next week to
announced how it plans to proceed with legislation legalizing such
unions.
Johnson wrote in 2001 that he once
feared that allowing gays to marry would lead to plural marriages.
“If gay marriage was OK – and I was
uncertain on the issue – then I saw no reason why a union should
not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed
three men and a dog,” he said.
(Related: London
Mayor Boris Johnson records clip for gay marriage.)