ALBAN Maginness was deliberately absent from the assembly in order to indicate "passive abstention" to the same-sex marriage vote on the day it finally achieved a majority in the assembly.
The North Belfast SDLP assembly member had always indicated that he would not be supporting the changes and was the only nationalist not to support the motion.
He says he does not back same-sex marriage for "religious and ethical reasons".
The SDLP was initially unable to give a reason for his non-attendance, but yesterday a spokesman was able to clarify the matter.
"Alban said all along that he was going to be abstaining and rather than going in and voting in two lobbies, he chose not to attend and have a `passive abstention'," he said.
Like Sinn Féin, the SDLP is formally in favour of the same-sex marriage.
