It is likely to be a year before the Human Rights Amendment Act, turned down by the Senate, can be brought back to Parliament by Opposition MP Wayne Furbert.

Mr Furbert said he had sought three legal opinions after Thursday’s narrow 6-5 defeat in the Upper House.

“One lawyer told me it might come back in November — if it’s got to be 12 months, that’s how it has to be; I’m not sweating it,” he told The Royal Gazette.

The Act, which sought to define marriage as solely between a man and woman, was passed in the House of Assembly by a vote of 20-10 on July 8.

Mr Furbert said he would bring it back to Parliament unchanged, which means it will become law if passed again.

Asked about the possibility of a legal precedent granting same-sex marriage in the meantime, Mr Furbert reiterated that the European Convention on Human Rights had stated that same-sex marriage did not qualify as a human right.

“It’s been stated seven times — the Chief Justice will have to look at every other case that’s been brought up,” he said.