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The Scottish government decision came after a consultation on gay marriage |
Scotland is
set to become the first part of the UK to introduce gay marriage after the SNP
government announced plans to make the change.
Scottish
ministers confirmed they would bring forward a bill on the issue.
Political
leaders, equality groups and others support gay marriage, but it is strongly
opposed by the Catholic Church and Church of Scotland.
The
announcement was made in the wake of a government consultation which produced a
massive response.
Same-sex
couples in Scotland currently have the option to enter into civil partnerships
and the Holyrood government has insisted no part of the religious community
would be forced to hold same-sex weddings in churches.
Despite
opposition by the big religions, faith groups, including the United Reformed
Church, the Quakers, Buddhists and the Pagan Federation back gay marriage.
The issue
also caused a split in the SNP, after a parliamentary motion tabled by party
MSP John Mason, stating no person or organisation should be forced to be
involved in or to approve of same-sex marriage, led to accusations by some of
his colleagues that his actions encouraged discrimination.
Gordon
Wilson, a former SNP leader, has also warned plans for same-sex marriage could
"alienate" people considering voting for independence in the 2014
referendum.
Civil
partnerships in Scotland offer the same legal treatment as marriage in areas
such as inheritance, pensions provision, life assurance, child maintenance,
next of kin and immigration rights, but are still seen as distinct from
marriage.
A man and a
woman can opt for a religious or civil marriage ceremony, whereas a same-sex
partnership is an exclusively civil procedure.
The UK
government, which is consulting on changing the status of civil ceremonies to
allow gay and lesbian couples in England and Wales to get married, wants to
make the change by 2015.
The
Scottish government's decision came on the same day that the partner of the
late Labour MP David Cairns said anti-gay remarks by the new Archbishop of
Glasgow added to his "grief and pain".
Dermot
Kehoe spoke after it emerged Philip Tartaglia appeared to link the death of Mr
Cairns to his sexuality.
Mr Cairns,
who was Labour MP for Inverclyde and a former Catholic priest, died at the age
of 44 in May last year after suffering from acute pancreatitis.
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