Why I am convinced the same-sex marriage bill is the right thing to do

Today and tomorrow the House of Commons will debate the Government's same-sex marriage bill. The legislation is designed to allow same-sex couples to marry. Many thousands are keenly awaiting their chance to do so.

Some remain opposed to this move. Over the years I have listened to their concerns, as well as the arguments from those who advocate it.

I am convinced that extending marriage to same-sex couples is the right decision. Polls suggest that a majority of the public support it. Younger people tend to be surprised that it's an issue at all.

Yet I understand the concerns which many feel. How can Conservatives support such a change? But I look back to the late sixties, when homosexual acts were still illegal under the criminal law, and recall that many Conservatives opposed the reforms that legalised them. (The young Margaret Thatcher supported these reforms). Not many of those who opposed change then would think the same now.

Similarly some Conservatives opposed the introduction of civil partnerships in 2004. Yet most of them now say that they are comfortable with that reform.

So how do we reconcile this reform with being a Conservative? When I recall my time as a young minister in Margaret Thatcher's Government, I feel like I'm the same Conservative today as I was then: committed to sound money, free markets, a smaller state, low taxes, a Eurosceptic fiscal conservative. The difference? I'm more liberal on social issues.

Part of this is just the passage of time. After all the country has moved significantly since then. People of all party allegiances have changed and will continue to change.

But for me it was also a family experience that shaped my outlook. It was not by any means unique but it was a formative experience. My brother Charles who was gay died from AIDS in 1993.

Society was a far less accepting place for gay men such as him. I think how much better his life would have been had there been greater acceptance of publicly acknowledged stable same-sex relationships. In the two decades since much has changed. But I think this additional step, of extending marriage to all, is important both symbolically and practically. And it is something which most – though I appreciate not all – gay men and women want.

Some argue that we are tampering with marriage and that what we are doing is hardly Conservative. I would argue that Conservatism always meant both the disposition to preserve as well as the readiness to reform. Enabling the recognition of committed relationships is perfectly consistent with the Conservative belief that commitment underpins society. We do not seek to change marriage but to spread it.

I understand that some are concerned that religious organisations might be forced to conduct same-sex marriages. They have expressed their fears clearly and the Government has listened. I am confident that the new law will have sufficient safeguards to prevent any organisation being forced to host same-sex marriages.

But it will permit those religious organisations that opt to celebrate such marriages to do so. Some, including the Quakers and Reform Judaism, have already confirmed that they will.

Across the West several countries have introduced same-sex marriage, most recently France and New Zealand. At present gay men and women who live and work here have to travel abroad to Canada or elsewhere to marry. We should look forward to a time when everyone - whatever their sexual orientation - can celebrate their commitment to each other at home, in Britain.

Francis Maude MP is the Cabinet Office Minister