Scottish Parliament approves same-sex 'marriage' Bill
A Bill to introduce same sex 'marriage' in Scotland was approved by the Scottish Parliament in a vote of 105 to 18 on Tuesday (4th February).
Opposition
This is despite the fact that two thirds of the record number of 77,508 citizens who responded to the Scottish Government’s public consultation on the issue were opposed to the move.
A spokesman for the campaign group Scotland for Marriage said: “The overwhelming majority of MSPs have ignored public opinion and steam-rollered through a law which is ill-conceived, poorly thought out and will, in time, discriminate against ordinary people for their sincerely held beliefs.”
Undermine
The move was also strongly opposed by the Scottish Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland who said that the change would undermine traditional marriage and force churches to perform same sex ‘marriages’ against their will.
“The Church of Scotland holds to the mainstream Christian belief that marriage is properly between a man and a woman,” said Alan Hamilton, convenor of the Kirk’s legal questions committee.
He added: “We are also concerned that public servants, particularly registrars and teachers, who do not support same-sex marriage, may find themselves disadvantaged in the workplace.”
MSPs rejected all amendments to the Bill to protect the civil liberties of those who believe that marriage can only be between one man and one woman.
“Sad day”
Andrea Williams of Christian Concern said: “This is a sad day for Scotland given the vast majority of people in Scotland have spoken so clearly about their opposition to same-sex marriage. This was a chance for their Members of Parliament to demonstrate that they were listening to their constituents.
“Scotland had a chance to protect this great institution for its people but instead it chose to follow Westminster in caving in to the gay lobby."
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