Historic 30 minutes: the House of Commons took up marriage for all, Benda wanted to ban it in the constitution. The adjourned session is to resume today
It lasted only about half an hour, but it was still a historic moment. The House of Commons began debating marriage for all yesterday. It was the first time this has happened in the current chamber since an amendment was tabled in June 2022. However, an amendment to the Civil Code that would have replaced the words "man and woman" with "two people" was tabled back in 2018. It advanced to a second reading in the then chamber, but a vote on the proposal never took place. So now the whole process has to take place again.
The debate on marriage for same-sex couples was listed as the first item after the government's proposals yesterday, but it was uncertain whether MPs and MPs would get to it, as it was a fixed item on the agenda from 1:45pm. According to the Daily N, some of the lawmakers tried to prevent the discussion of marriage for all couples with their speeches. However, in the end, the first reading did take place, although the debate only lasted about 30 minutes and then was suspended. But the House is due to return to it today, although it is not clear exactly when. They will have about 3.5 hours to do so between the traditional Thursday answers to written and then oral interpellations.
The proposal for a constitutional ban
MEP Marek Benda of the ODS yesterday also proposed that the debate on equal marriage be combined with a debate on its constitutional ban. According to Adéla Horáková, a lawyer for the We Are Fair movement, the effort to introduce a constitutional ban has only one purpose: "To increase the number of votes needed to accept marriage for all from 101 to 120." The last time Russia passed such a constitutional ban was in 2020. But Benda's motion to combine the negotiations ultimately failed to pass, and the House did not vote on it.
