Metro Weekly

Moving on marriage in Great Britain; a suicide in opposition in Paris

In a 366 to 161 vote, Britain’s House of Commons said ‘I Do’ to marriage equality with the passage of legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in England and Wales. The bill will move to the House of Lords, where it is expected to face opposition.

In June 2012, the online market research agency YouGov found that 71 percent of Britons are in favor of same-sex marriage. Gallup’s 2004 poll found that 52 percent supported it — 17 percent higher than Americans at the time.

Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron looked to the legalization of gay marriage as a way of modernizing the Conservative Party. In 2011, Cameron made waves when he said “I don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I’m a Conservative.” Despite his plans to change the party, Cameron relied largely on Members of Parliament from the Labour Party to pass the bill.

Meanwhile, a far-right French historian committed suicide today in Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral because he didn’t think there was enough opposition to gay marriage. Dominique Venner, 78, stormed into the cathedral and shot himself in the mouth. According to The Guardian, there were 1,500 people in the 850-year-old cathedral when the suicide occurred around 4 p.m. Central European Time. It was the first suicide there in decades.

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