I am going to two weddings tomorrow – same sex weddings of course!

And whilst those who marry on this first day will be part of history – the real point is that from this day forward – people of the same sex can get married any day – and live happily ever after!

This will be such a landmark day for me too.

It’s been a long journey since I marched into my office at the Home Office and said to my civil servants ‘I am going to deliver same sex marriage – and I know it’s not in the Coalition agreement – but it needs doing’,

And the rest is history – literally.

If you use the find mechanism on my blog – and find ‘gay marriage’, ‘same sex marriage’ or ‘equal marriage’ you will see some of how this came to be. One day – when I am no longer a minister – I will be able to tell the whole story.

But all I really want to do here and now – is wish everyone who marries someone of the same sex exactly what I would wish couples of the opposite sex – all the joy and happiness that being married can bring to two human beings who love each other.

So today’s the day that the Bill passes its third reading in the Lords! I am so happy – that’s it – just so happy. You go into politics wanting to change the world for the better – and here is my little bit of it.

Tributes to all who have helped over the ages in the step by step journey to equal marriage – but especially to those who have had to suffer the discrimination and bigotry that made its path so painful.

And very best wishes to all those who will now get married – and as Ben & Jerry put it on the special ice-cream tub they sent me to thank me for my work instigating equal marriage and on which they emblazoned

‘Lynne Honeycomb’

‘Everyone deserves to live Apple-y Ever After’

and so they do!

I posted yesterday on having to beware of the amendment on opposite sex Civil Partnerships – because the proposers are no friends of Equal Marriage – which makes me uber suspicious.
However, I have always wanted both same sex marriage and opposite sex civil partnerships.

So my task this morning is to try and get some facts. The Conservatives are not champions of ‘living together’ – they believe in marriage – and that has been their rationale for their support on same sex marriage. I am concerned as to whether there is any truth in their assertion that this will delay same sex marriage implementation.

That is the key fact to understand – what would be the actual harm (if any) that this amendment could cause?

Often when I am giving a speech or attending an event, a young man or woman will sidle up to me and thank me shyly for having got equal marriage legislation put before Parliament, telling me just how much it means to him or her. The stories of how much it matters to them, their loved ones and their families often makes me cry.

The symbolism of marriage for them is so important – and changing the rules to let people of the same gender who love each other get married is also an important way of showing that as a society we wish to treat people equally, regardless of their sexuality.

That is why this is so important. Equal marriage is totemic in its meaning and in its reality. It’s no wonder that the polls this weekend show people backing same-sex marriage by nearly 2-to-1.

With the legislation coming back to Parliament this coming week, I’ve been reading through some of the many amendments which will be debated. Many of them are fundamentally from those who disagree with same sex marriage and I trust and hope they will fail.

However, there are two that I would normally not hesitate to support. I am in favour of humanist weddings and opposite-sex Civil Partnerships. However, in the case of the opposite sex Civil Partnership proposals it’s a matter of beware opponents bearing gifts – for the people pushing this change are not those with records of supporting equality and marriage rules that accommodate a diversity of couples.

No, instead the proposals are coming from the likes of Tim Loughton and others who are avowed and determined opponents of equal marriage.

Have Tim and his colleagues suddenly become converts to the cause of equality? Given their public statements I fear what is at work here is rather darker and more cynical – a deliberate attempt to wreck the legislation by introducing extra issues to it that will make it easier for opponents of equal marriage in Parliament to then filibuster, delay and block the legislation.

I have just got back from a ministerial trip Nigeria and so will find out more tomorrow. If this is simply a cynical trap by opponents of equal marriage to block it, then we need to be careful not to fall into it – no matter how temptingly attractive the amendments are that are being used to lay the trap.