Same-sex marriage has been rejected in Finland for the second time in less than two years.
The legal affairs committee rejected the same-sex marriage Bill by 10 votes to 6, compared to a 9-8 vote by the same committee in March 2013.
Finnish MP Peter Östman, of the Christian Democratic Party, voted against the Bill.
Preserve
He said: “We want to preserve the current marriage laws, which define marriage as between a man and a woman.”
The whole Finnish Parliament is expected to debate the legislation in the Autumn.
Following last year’s rejection of same-sex marriage, a pro-same-sex marriage group launched a petition, called a Citizens’ Initiative, which gathered 166,000 signatures.
Parliament
As a result of the action, parliament was forced to discuss the issue.
In the Northern Ireland Assembly, attempts to redefine marriage have been defeated by an outright majority three times.
In April, MLAs voted 51 to 43 against same-sex marriage.
Opposed
Pro-traditional marriage campaigners said those pushing for a change should “take the hint”.
Callum Webster, a spokesman for The Christian Institute, commented: “The people of Northern Ireland are clearly opposed to redefining marriage and it’s only the political elite who are trying to force the change on the Province.”
“Elected representatives have voted three times in less than two years to keep marriage between a man and a woman, so those pushing for gay marriage should take the hint.”
“Just because politicians in Westminster have ridden roughshod over the opinions of hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens and redefined marriage, doesn’t mean Northern Ireland needs to follow suit”.