Gay marriage bill to be published
A bill to legalise gay marriage is being published by the government today. Culture Secretary Maria Miller said the bill would ensures "equal and fair" treatment of gay couples, while allowing religious institutions opposed to the move the option to opt-out. She told Radio 4's Today programme:
We feel that marriage is a good thing and we should be supporting more couples to marry and that is exactly what the proposals being brought forward today do.
But it is about making sure that not only do we recognise the rights of same-sex couples in civil life, but we also recognise that some churches won't want to participate in same-sex marriages.
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