KENILWORTH, 27 SEPTEMBER 2003 — Gay humanists are calling on the Government to extend full civil marriage rights to homosexual couples instead of “fobbing them off” with an inferior “partnership registration” scheme.
In a response to the Government’s consultation on partnership registration, the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) says: “We believe that the principle of equality is best served by opening up marriage, with all its rights and responsibilities, to same-sex partners. The current proposals, welcome as they are in relieving some of the most obvious injustices, are only a step in that direction.”
The group points out that: “The Netherlands opened marriage to same-sex partners with effect from 1 April 2001. Belgium opened marriage to same-sex partners with effect from 1 June 2003. The Canadian province of Ontario opened marriage to same-sex partners on 10 June 2003. The Canadian province of British Columbia opened marriage to same-sex partners on 8 July 2003. Canada as a whole is expected to follow suit in the near future. The European Parliament, in adopting the Report on the situation as regards fundamental rights in the European Union (2002) on 4 September 2003, has called on member states to ‘abolish all forms of discrimination – whether legislative or de facto – which are still suffered by homosexuals, in particular as regards the right to marry and adopt children’.”
A spokesperson for GALHA, Terry Sanderson, said: “We fear that the Government are running scared of reactions from religious groups if they were to use the word ‘marriage’ in this context. But ‘gay marriage’ is already what the public perceives to be on offer, and there has been no widespread reaction to that. We are calling on the Government to have the courage to offer equality to gay people in this area, and open up civil marriage to gay people instead of creating some makeshift registration scheme that instantly creates a difference.”
GALHA’s associated charity, The Pink Triangle Trust, has been offering non-religious ‘commitment’ ceremonies to gay couples for many years, although these have no legal status. “We are anxious that gay couples who want to formalise their relationship are not fobbed off with second best, but are given exactly the same rights and responsibilities that straight couples have when they sign the marriage register,” commented Terry Sanderson.
The full response can be seen at http://www.galha.org/submission/2003_09.html.