The Scottish Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee has rejected amendments supported by opponents of same-sex marriage in Scotland, which the Equality Network says are unnecessary and would have ‘reintroduced discrimination and rolled back LGBT equality’.
The Committee was tasked with considering amendments to the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill before MSPs vote on a final version of the Bill early next year.
The rejected amendments included proposals supported by the Scotland for Marriage campaign to allow civil registrars and all other public sector workers to refuse to serve same-sex couples, and to single out opposition to same-sex marriage as a belief particularly ‘worthy of respect’ in the law but not equally protect other beliefs.
Two amendments supported by the Equality Network, the Scottish LGBT equality charity, were agreed unanimously by the Committee, including an amendment to allow couples with foreign civil partnerships to convert them to a marriage in Scotland, and one to allow religious and belief bodies to use gender-neutral language in marriage ceremonies if they wish.
Tom French, Policy Coordinator for the Equality Network, said: “Scotland’s equal marriage bill will provide a fair balance of rights and freedoms for all. We are very pleased that the Scottish Parliament today made the right choice to reject unnecessary amendments that would have reintroduced discrimination and rolled back equality for LGBT people.”
Last month MSPs voted in favour of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill at stage one by an overwhelming majority of 98 in favour to 15 votes against.
The vote was a ‘free vote’, meaning that MSPs were not guided or ‘whipped’ by their parties to vote either way.
Those voting for equal marriage included the leaders of every political party represented in the Scottish Parliament. Opinion polls have shown consistent public support for same-sex marriage across Scotland. A poll conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Equality Network in June 2012 showed 64% of Scots in favour of same-sex marriage, with just 26% opposed. Separate polls conducted over the past four years by Populus, YouGov, Angus Reid, and the independent Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, have all shown similar levels of support.
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