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The House of Lords has voted in favour of allowing civil partnerships to take place in churches, synagogues and other religious buildings.

The amendment to the Equality Bill was passed on Tuesday by 95 to 21, a majority of 74.

The amendment was proposed by Lord Alli, who is himself gay and Muslim. In his speech to the upper house, he said: “There are many gay and lesbian couples who want to share their civil partnership with the congregations that they worship with and there are a number of religious organisations that want to allow gay and lesbian couples to do exactly that.” Under the law as it stands, civil partnerships are forbidden in religious venues. The amendment, however, will not force religious bodies to accept civil partnerships.

The Conservative party’s equality spokeswoman Baroness Morris spoke against the amendment, while the Bishop of Winchester said “I believe it does further fudge the line between civil partnerships and marriage.”

The amendment has received considerable support from the Green Party and the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, and a number of Anglican clerics recently voiced their support for the amendment in a letter to The Times. Green Party human rights spokesman and veteran LGBT campaigner Peter Tatchell described the result as “the decent democratic thing to do.”

The amendment, which was not backed by the government, has yet to be approved in the House of Commons, but commentators believe that MPs will propose few changes.

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