The Bill to lower the age of consent for homosexual men to 16 came before the House of Commons on 10 February 2000. MPs voted by 263 votes to 102 to give a second reading to the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, which equalises the age of consent at 16 for all in Britain and 17 in Northern Ireland. 10 Conservatives voted for an equal age of consent (including Michael Portillo MP), 6 Labour MPs and 3 Liberal Democrats voted against.
 

The age of sexual consent was finally equalised between homosexuals and heterosexuals on the last day of November 2000 after the Prime Minister rejected a last-minute plea from religious leaders to abandon the move. Exactly 100 years to the day since the death of Oscar Wilde, gay sex for over-16s became legal when the Sexual Offences (Amendments) Bill received the Royal Assent.

The Government pushed through the historic legislation after two years of bitter parliamentary wrangling and relentless opposition from the House of Lords. But the Bill was involved in controversy right up until the last minute as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of Westminster and other clerics declared their "strong moral and health objections".

Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, also upset Tory peers when he invoked the rarely used Parliament Act to ensure that the changes reached the statute book. Under the Act, any legislation that has been rejected by the Lords can automatically become law one year later if it reflects the wishes of the House of Commons. Tony Blair, who repeated his determination to change the law, had tried to reduce the age of gay consent since he came to office.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 1997 that British law on the issue violated the European Convention and Labour gave a commitment to allow a free vote in Parliament. Despite big Commons majorities in favour of change, the House of Lords blocked the move in July 1998 and again in April 1999. In November 2000, peers once more voted against the Bill.

In an attempt to halt the process, Tory MPs called on the Speaker, Michael Martin, to intervene and refuse to certify the Bill for Royal Assent. When asked by the Tory MP Sir Peter Emery to comment on objections from the Archbishop of Canterbury and others, Mr Martin said: "Clerics don't tell me what to do, the House tells me what to do."

Baroness Young, who led the opposition to the proposals in the Lords, accused Mr Blair of behaving in a "completely dictatorial manner" towards Parliament. Meanwhile Angela Mason, the executive director of Stonewall, hailed the passing of the Bill as "a great step towards equality".