Marriage Equality

On Tuesday the House of Commons will vote on the latest version of the Government's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) bill. The most surprising aspect of the process is that it has taken so long to get to this point; a simple correction of an obvious inequality should not have required so much consultation and argument.

The bill's opponents have been vocal and their predictions of the impact of the legislation have been apocalyptic. Opposition has been led, as has so often been the case in the past, by the Church of England and other, even less representative, religious cults. God, we are told, is very upset about attempts to "redefine" marriage away from the biblical "norms", despite the total lack of clarity in his guidebook (see here for a list of the types of marriage God has allowed) but he isn't able to put in a personal appearance to influence the debate or clarify his policies.

The Churches are backed by a variety of right-wing politicians who, if they aren't motivated by crude religious beliefs, presumably think that their constituents will be impressed by a display of old-fashioned bigotry. Today, these politicians stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the ghosts of colleagues from previous generations, trying to hold back the tide of reform. Their arguments, often bolstered by the teachings of an unsophisticated religion (often, but not always, some form of Christianity), have been used many times to justify inequality, oppression and discrimination and to block the development of a fairer, more caring society.

The rest of us, however, have moved on. We see the value of equality and the destructive, unpleasant power of discrimination. We want to live in a country where rights and opportunities are not limited by gender, race, age, religion, class or sexuality. We recognise that the desire of a minority of out-of-touch individuals to discriminate is based on unfounded worries and justified by flawed arguments that lack evidential support. We are familiar with the arguments made by opponents of marriage equality, having heard them when earlier generations fought for the abolition of slavery, the emancipation of women, the decriminalisation of homosexual acts and the establishment of Civil Partnerships.

In short, the dire predictions made by opponents of marriage equality have never previously come to pass when made by similar people about similar reforms and there is absolutely no reason to believe that society will collapse on Wednesday (or at any point thereafter) as a result of the bill being passed on Tuesday. Some MPs will still vote against, of course, but they will quickly be seen as bigoted extremists whose value to the country and Government has been greatly diminished.

After this, of course, the next target for reform is the Church of England itself, which enjoys a strange and undemocratic position at the heart of Government. Removing the bishops from the House of Lords and disestablishing the Church will take us just a little closer to a fair and equal society.