Same-sex couples set to receive equal rights to marry, despite opposition from within the Conservative party

Ministers have pledged to push through legislation to give same-sex couples equal rights to get married despite mounting opposition from within the Conservative party and the threat of a split with the Church of England.

Following a day in which it emerged that the Home Office has had more than 100,000 responses to its consultation, a petition against gaymarriage has been signed by more than half a million people, and a poll by leading gay rights group Stonewall showed that four out of five people under 50 support the move to legalise gay marriage, one of the government’s few openly gay minsters appealed for more “calm” in the debate and for supporters of the move to show respect for opponents.

Greg Barker, the Conservative climate minister, said: “What’s important is, given how much the world has moved on in a good way in mainstreaming relationships [between gay couples] and how much acceptance there has been, we must now make sure this debate doesn’t polarise opinion again and it’s conducted in a civil and calm way, and we don’t project the worst views of our opponents onto everyone who disagrees with us.”

– full report at Guardian

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