Britain’s House of Lords has defeated a motion that would have blocked a marriage equality Bill. A 'wrecking' amendment which would have prevented a second reading was defeated on a free vote by 390 to 148. The Bill now proceeds to Committee Stage in the House of Lords. Chief executive of UK gay rights groups Stonewall says the organisation is absolutely delighted. “We always expected a tough challenge in the House of Lords, and Lord Dear's ‘fatal motion' - very rarely used - demonstrates the lengths to which a minority of peers are, sadly, still prepared to go to deny full equality to lesbian, gay and bisexual people. “In the last 24 hours alone, opponents of equality in the House of Lords have compared loving, committed relationships to incest and polygamy. “Britain's 3.7 million gay people don't deserve to be second class citizens in their own country. A tough fight lies ahead and we'll continue to work tirelessly every single day to get equal marriage through the Lords.” The Bill now has to go through further readings in Parliament and be approved by the Queen. Meanwhile, the Scottish Parliament has announced that a bill proposing full marriage equality will be heard within the next month. Australia’s parliament should be “ashamed” The House of Lords vote has led Australian marriage equality advocates to say their nation’s parliament should be ashamed. "When one of the most conservative chambers in the world can give marriage equality the green light, it's humiliating and shameful that the Australian parliament can't,” says National Director Rodney Croome.