New Zealand races full speed for immoral homosexual marriage
Second reading support is firm but submissions reveal wider range of opinion and doubts at speed of change. After months of emotional submissions and some bitter protest, a bill to legalise same-sex marriage appears likely to pass another hurdle with barely a dent in its political support. A dozen MPs indicated their vote in favour was limited to the first stage of the bill and they would reconsider after hearing the debates at select committee. With the second reading of the bill likely to be debated this evening, a straw poll of those MPs found only who said he would no longer vote for it. National MP for Rangitikei Ian McKelvie, who backed the bill at the first reading, said he had not been convinced there was any reason to change the historical definition of marriage. Several more MPs said they were consulting their electorates until the last minute. The 21,500 submissions on the Marriage ( Definition of Marriage ) Amendment Bill - 2900 of which were unique - present