Amnesty International has welcomed a vote by Belfast City Council in favour of a law change in Northern Ireland to allow for same-sex marriage.

The Council voted last night in favour of a motion supporting civil marriage for same-sex couples, brought by Councillor Emmet McDonough Brown, by 38 votes to 13, with 2 abstentions.

Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Programme Director Patrick Corrigan, said: 

“This overwhelming vote in favour of civil marriage for same-sex couples by Northern Ireland's largest council shows how far opinion has shifted in favour of equality for the LGBTI community.

“That same spirit of equality now needs to be demonstrated by the Northern Ireland Assembly, so that this region will not be the only part of the UK or Ireland without civil marriage for same-sex couples."

Amnesty International, with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Rainbow Project, Northern Ireland's largest LGBTI group, will hold a march for civil marriage equality through Belfast on Saturday 13 June, culminating in a rally outside Belfast City Hall.