[Updated] The Human Rights Amendment 2016 — which seeks to maintain marriage as being defined as between a man and a woman — passed last night [July 8] in the House of Assembly.

The Bill was originally brought to the House by Opposition MP Wayne Furbert back in February, and then voted on during last night’s debate after an Amendment by Attorney-General Trevor Moniz.

The first vote was held on the Amendment to the Bill, which passed with 21 votes for, 9 against, and 1 abstention, which was from Premier Michael Dunkley, who said he had arranged a meeting with the Human Rights Commission.

The second vote was then held on the amended Bill, with those speaking against the Bill prior to the vote including Mark Pettingill [OBA], Dr Grant Gibbons [OBA], Walton Brown [PLP], Glen Smith [OBA] and Shawn Crockwell [Independent], while those speaking in favour of the Bill included Wayne Furbert [PLP], Craig Cannonier [OBA], Wayne Scott [OBA] and Sylvan Richards [OBA].

The audio of the vote on both the Amendment and the amended Bill is below:

Update 3.28pm: The Bill will now head to the Senate, and Senator Jeff Baron has tweeted that he plans to “argue in Senate to defeat this hateful law.”

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