LONDON: British lawmakers voted in favour of legislation allowing gay marriage on Tuesday, reports news agencies. Approval was voted by 400 to 175 to approve the draft law allowing same-sex couples to marry in England and Wales.
Since 2005 same-sex couples have been allowed to enter into civil partnerships, a separate union which provides the legal consequences of marriage. In 2006, the High Court rejected a legal action by a British lesbian couple who had married in Canada to have their union recognised as a marriage in the UK and not as a civil partnership.