Insofar as the United Kingdom is concerned, it seems to be in an almost identical situation as far as same-sex marriage proper goes. At present, the National Union of Students Scotland, Peter Tatchell, current Treasurer George Osborne, the Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Liberal Democrats (at their annual conference last month) all support the idea of folding the current Civil Partnerships Act 2005 into same-sex civil marriage proper (although some liberal faiths and Christian religious denominations are all for same-sex religious marriages). In the United Kingdom, civil partnerships confer all the substantive legislative benefits and obligations of straight civil marriage, including the right to adopt children (which has been available to eligible UK same-sex couples since 2002- in Scotland, 2009). Practically speaking, there isn't much difference anyway. British LGBT lobby group Stonewall is concerned at the cost involved in a campaign for same-sex marriage proper- about five billion pounds. Statute and case law bar same-sex marriage proper at the moment- the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 forbids same-sex marriages, specfying that they must be between heterosexuals, while the House of Lords heard Kitzinger v Wilkinson in 2003, when two British lesbian academics git married in Canada and tried to have their marriage recognised in the United Kingdom. (It wasn't). At present, there seems to be no significant opposition from the UK Christian Right to same-sex marriage proper, apart from a brief media release on "Christian Concern for Our Nation"... although one suspects that this will probably change. Recommended: Peter Tatchell: http://www.petertatchell.net/ Stonewall: http://www.stonewall.org.uk Not Recommended: Christian Concern for Our Nation: http://www.ccfon.org/ Christian Legal Centre: http://www.christianlegalcentre.com/ Christian Voice: http://www.christianvoice.org.uk/ Christian Institute: http://www.christian.org.uk Craig Young - 5th October 2010