A bill which seeks to legalize gay
marriage in Britain and Wales received an initial nod from the House
of Commons on Tuesday.
The bill was approved with a 400 to 175
vote.
More than 70 members of parliament
participated in the debate which lasted more than 6 hours.
(Related: British
House of Commons debates gay marriage.)
The bill now moves to the committee
stage.
The issue divided Prime Minister David
Cameron's Conservative Party, with slightly more Conservative MPs
voting against the proposal than with it (140 to 132, according to a
tweet from BBC political editor Alex
Hunt).
MP Ed Miliband, the Leader of the
Labour Party, called the vote “an important step forward in the
fight for equality in Britain.”
“The overwhelming majority of Labour
MPs supported this change to make sure marriage reflects the value we
place on long-term, loving relationships whoever you love,” he said
in a statement.
“Equal marriage builds on Labour's
successes in government which include the repeal of Section 28,
equalising the age of consent, the introduction of civil partnerships
and changes to the rules governing adoption.”