Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill

Guy Opperman Excerpts

Tuesday 5th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

This is one of the finest debates that I have ever had the privilege of listening to, with outstanding contributions on both sides. This House, I suggest, is on a journey, and it is a journey that can be traced back many years. A hundred years ago there were the suffragettes and the opportunity for women to have the vote. In 1922 women were entitled to be MPs. Fifty years ago we had the civil rights movement and in 1967 homosexuality was made legal. Approximately 10 years ago civil partnerships were made legal. In that context, the House is on a journey and the country is on a journey too. We are all changing. The House must change with it, and so must the country. That is why I will support the Bill tonight.

To the many people who have come to see me or have written to me, whether from the Catholic Church, the Church of England or other faiths, I say that I respect entirely that this is a very large step for all of us to take and that it will have a significant impact on all of us, but it is right that we should support those who wish to go on this journey.

The Bill is not perfect. Anyone who has listened to the debate will know that even the most ardent supporters in the debate accept that the Bill requires improvement as it navigates its way through Committee. I for one strongly urge the House that the Bill should have proper Committee consideration and amendment as it goes forward.

For me, this is a matter of commitment. I have spent 20 years as a community activist, councillor, lawyer, and now MP seeing examples of the difficulties that occur when couples fail to commit and fail to bring up children in the right way. Yet when two people show a desire to commit in the most serious way possible, are we to deny them that opportunity merely because they are of the same sex? That cannot be right. We know that married couples are twice as likely to stay together as cohabiting couples. Yes, there are clear religious problems with the arguments made in favour of the Bill, but I cannot conceive of a God who creates, allows and permits homosexuals but would then want us to deny them the right to seek marital fulfilment within a religious context.

The protections that have been put into the Bill are ample. The examples that we see in other countries all across the world show that this process can be navigated without recourse to the European Court of Human Rights or other legal jurisdictions. It cannot be right that we are failing to allow religious groups, including the Quakers and the Unitarians, who want to conduct such marriages to be able to move forward on that. With respect, that seems totally illogical. I am satisfied that the necessary religious freedoms are in place and that no institution or church leader, be they Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist or whatever, can be forced to conduct such marriages. Do not take my word for it, Mr Speaker. Rabbi Julia Neuberger has said:

“It is precisely because marriage is such a uniquely important institution that we should ensure that all couples who want to get married can do so, regardless of their sexuality.”

Some have insisted that same-sex marriage would undermine the institution of marriage. Does anyone here feel that they would be less married because we had gay constituents who could commit in that way? I am not married. I have yet to find the woman who would want to marry someone such as me—but she is out there, Mr Speaker, I promise you. When I do want to marry, the fact that gay friends and gay colleagues are also getting married would not stop me doing so.