They are normally seen as membranes that cover important organs but the study of bacterial capsule polysaccharides is one that is being conducted by the medical community to determine the role this has in disease. Bacterial infection is something that kills millions of people each year.
The Government's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill received Royal Assent on 17th July 2013, having been passed by both Houses of Parliament. The Bill followed a Government consultation in 2012.
The first bill to legalize same-sex marriage was a private member's bill tabled in the House of Commons by New Democratic MP Svend Robinson on March 25, 1998. Like most private members' bills it did not progress past first reading, and was reintroduced in several subsequent Parliaments.