Same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland - draft Bill

In the LGBT History Month talk I gave this month I discussed the draft Bill I wrote last year which, if enacted by the UK Parliament, would make same-sex marriage lawful in Northern Ireland.

The draft Bill is pretty simple, and I've copied the explanatory notes for it below. In essence, it would enable the UK Parliament to take back legislative authority for marriage in Northern Ireland and empower the Secretary of State to make same-sex marriage lawful there. 

I realise that such legislation may be considered contentious by some. But the UK Parliament could make same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland lawful, if the Government decided to introduce the necessary legislation. 

Perhaps some UK readers might like to write to their MP and request that they ask the Government to consider this Bill or a version of it? 

The draft Bill can be found here.

Explanatory notes for the draft Marriage (Same Sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) Bill

Clause 1 makes same-sex marriage lawful in Northern Ireland. The consequence of this is that, subject to any necessary changes to UK legislation permitted by Clause 2, existing same-sex marriages, solemnised in other jurisdictions (such as England and Wales), would be treated as lawful marriages.

Clause 2 requires the Secretary of State to make provision for the solemnisation of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, and allows the Secretary of State to make any additional changes to UK legislation that need to be made as a consequence of same-sex marriage being lawful. The Secretary of State would have 12 months, from the time the Act came into force, to make the necessary amendments to the Marriage (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 to enable the solemnisation of same-sex marriage.

Clause 3 “un-devolves” marriage and restores the power to legislate for marriage in Northern Ireland to the UK Parliament. This is achieved by adding marriage to the list of reserved matters in the Northern Ireland Act 1998.