A rally is to be held outside the House of Lords today, in a show of support for the Marriage (same sex couples) Bill, which will be voted on this evening by peers.

Supporters of marriage equality will rally outside the House of Lords from 17:00 this evening, as peers debate the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill.

Peers are debating the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill as part of its second reading in the Upper House from 3pm this afternoon.

93 peers in total signed up to speak during the debate, the last third of whom will speak today ahead of the vote.

Yesterday evening, pro-equality campaigners and politicians gathered outside the Houses of Parliament to hold a vigil in favour of same-sex marriage.

The rally, which began yesterday to mark the start of the bill’s second reading, was attended by actor Russell Tovey, Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green Mike Freer, Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Minister for Equalities, Yvette Cooper, Liberal Democrat peer Liz Barker and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said to PinkNews.co.uk: “It is uncertain how the House of Lords will vote. We don’t know the extent of the opposition. It would be a big mistake to assume that equal marriage is a done deal.”

Baroness Barker stood to make a speech in which she spoke of her love for another woman – revealing publicly for the first time that she, herself, is in a same-sex relationship.