Tories say N Ireland isn't ready for gay marriage1
A UK government minister has insisted it’s “not the time” to discuss an equal marriage settlement in Northern Ireland – after calls to intervene. Gay Labour MP Ged Killen, who is married to a Northern Irish man, challenged the government on the issue in Parliament today. The ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party has previously employed peace process powers to veto equal marriage bills in Northern Ireland – making it the only part of the UK that still bans same-sex couples from marrying. Making the outlook even more bleak for LGBT people, the region has also been without a functioning government since January, due to the collapse of power-sharing between the DUP and Sinn Fein. Mr Killen, the Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, challenged the UK government over the remaining inequality today – which means that couples who are legally married in other parts of the UK are treated as ‘civil partners’ in Northern Ireland. The MP explained t...