Speaking in the debate, Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, said: "It is wrong to have a prejudicial piece of legislation on the statute book."

Labour MP Kali Mountford pointed to the redundancy of Section 28 by pointing out that it is a myth that Section 28 has had any role in protecting children when she said: "The protection is in the good sense of the parents, teachers and governors on the governing bodies."

Commenting on the vote, Stonewall's Director of Parliamentary Affairs Sacha Deshmukh said: "The Commons has voted overwhelmingly for Section 28 to go. They understand that there is no place for a law that is offensive and completely redundant."

Two Conservative amendments were tabled for debate today. The first called for the retention of Section 28. The second, supported by the Tory leadership, sought to modify the management of sex education classes in schools. Both amendments were overwhelmingly defeated. Sacha Deshmukh added:

"The Conservative leadership's amendment was rightly defeated by a huge vote. They proposed adding layers of pointless bureaucracy in every school and wanted to set up complicated ballots that would have turned every school into an electoral battleground. Their proposals were completely unnecessary and unworkable."

"The bigots who wanted to keep Section 28 have been shown to be a small, sad and isolated axis of prejudice."

"Tory modernisers who backed the straightforward repeal of Section 28 deserve congratulations. People like John Bercow, Michael Portillo and Archie Norman realised long ago that the Conservative party will only have a future if it rejects hate and stops trying to stigmatise different sections of society."

"Our campaign now moves on to the House of Lords. Peers now face a clear choice. They can listen to democratic will and common sense by supporting repeal, or they can out themselves as defenders of bigotry by defending this hateful clause. We call on members of the House of Lords to support repeal and show that there is no place for prejudice in modern law making."

Stonewall is launching its final campaign push to repeal Section 28: "Say no to hate – Nail Section 28" in the month leading up to the vote in the House of Lords sometime next month. Stonewall will be distributing campaign postcards and petitions that will call on the three leaders of the major political parties to support repeal in the House of Lords. The campaign will be launched this Saturday at G.A.Y. in London.