A Colombian senator has likened gay marriage to bestiality and necrophilia.

Edgar EspÃ­ndola, who is a member of the conservative National Integration Party, reacted angriliy to a vote in the senate which approved a bill legalizing gay marriage.

‘Today in the world there are many countries where bestiality is practically a sexual preference for some, or necrophilia, or pedophilia,’ EspÃ­ndola said, reported Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper.

He added that the South American state should not ‘copy’ other countries which promote ‘modernism’.

His anti-gay outburst comes after just two weeks after right-wing Senator Roberto Gerlein sparked outrage with a homophobic tirade during a session in Congress held to debate same-sex marriage.

During the rant he said gay sex was ‘dirty and revolting’, while lesbian intercourse was ‘inane’.

The proposed gay marriage law, which was approved by 10 votes to five on Tuesday (4 December), will now face a vote in the Colombian Senate before passing to the House.

Last year, Colombia’s constitutional court set a deadline for lawmakers to act on the issue.

The court ruled that the Colombian Congress must create an equivalent of marriage for gay couples by June 20, 2013, or else couples will automatically gain the right to go to any judge to formalize their union.

The vote was strongly criticized by conservative politicians.