Equalities Spokesperson in the House of Lords, Baroness Stowell of Beeston, spoke to sum up the debate on the first amendments to the Committee Stage of the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill, pointing out that "what we are looking for here is the acceptance of gay men and lesbian women for who they are".  Here you can read her words, with interventions, culminating in the withdrawal of amendments 1 and 3, with amendment 2 not being moved.

In her speech supporting the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill at Committee Stage, Baroness Noakes questions why same-sex marraiges should be seen and called something different.  She points out that there are many different kinds of marriage - marriages between divorced people; marriages with and without children; death-bed marriages - and yet they are not given new or different names.  Her full speech can be read here.

Conservative Member of the House of Lords, Baroness Shackleton, spoke in the Committee Stage of Marriage (same sex couples) Bill to explain why she supports the Bill.  Her words can be read here.

Conservative peer, Lord Dobbs, in his speech during the Committee Stage of the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill, points out that "marriage has always changed its foundations".  His complete speech can be read here.

Speaking in the Committee Stage of the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill, LGBTory patron Lord Black of Brentwood, called amendment 1 a "wolf in sheep's clothing".  This amendment seeks to describe a same-sex marriage as a "union" and hence continue to keep them as a "separate but equal" institution.  The full text of Lord black's speech can be read here.

There are a selection of speeches from Conservative peers and one former Bishop on our website, but for those who wish to  have chance to read all contributions to the Lords 2nd Reading of the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill, including the vote on Lord Dear's wrecking motion, from Tuesday 4 June, they can do so here.

As peers do not usually vote on the 2nd Reading of any Bill by convention, Crossbencher Lord Dear tabled a motion to try to wreck the Bill so that it could not continue its passage through the House of Lords.  He did not succeed by a long way, but his summing up and then moving his motion, with the subsequent vote on this (with results) can be read here.

The House of Lords debate on the 2nd Reading of the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill was summed up by Women and Equalities spokesperson Baroness Stowell of Beeston.  Her full speech can be read here.

In his speech in the 2nd Reading of the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill, Lord Norton of Louth, Professor of Government at the University of Hull and Conservative peer, points out to those people who say "it is not upto Parliament to redefine marriage" that "Parliament CAN define marriage and...Parliament HAS redefined marriage".  He ends by adding that "the principled case for supporting the Bill is, to my mind, compelling." Read the whole of his speech here.

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington, a Conservative peer, takes a personal and family viewpoint on the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill.  Saying that young people don't understand what the fuss is about, Lady Jenkin ended by adding that her "own sons have said that they are proud of me, their father, and indeed their grand- father, for supporting the Bill, and would have been ashamed had we voted against it".  Her full speech can be read here.