Brody's Notes... British Prime Minister Urges Conservative Party To Back Same-Sex Marriage

Prime Minster Cameron Delivering Keynote Address
 2011 Tory Party Conference, Manchester, UK

By Brody Levesque | MANCHESTER, ENGLAND -- During his keynote address to his Conservative party's conference Wednesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron urged reluctant Tory members of Parliament as well as the Tory party regulars to support same-sex marriage.

In his speech, the Prime Minister said:

[...] I once stood before a Conservative conference and said it shouldn't matter whether commitment was between a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man and another man. You applauded me for that. Five years on, we're consulting on legalising gay marriage.
And to anyone who has reservations, I say: Yes, it's about equality, but it's also about something else: commitment. Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other. So I don't support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I'm a Conservative.

The British LGBTQ Equality Rights Advocacy group, Stonewall UK, welcomed Cameron’s speech referring to extending the legal form of marriage to same-sex couples;

"We warmly welcome David Cameron’s commitment,’ said Ben Summerskill, Stonewall Chief Executive. ‘It’s unthinkable that a Conservative prime minister would have felt able to say this a decade ago. We look forward to the government now implementing this commitment within the lifetime of this parliament, as promised."

Full text of Cameron's Speech here.