Straight couple in legal battle for civil partnership
November 26th, 2009
A straight couple hoping to be the first heterosexuals in the UK to have a civil partnership have been refused by their local registry office.
Katherine Doyle and Tom Freeman have now vowed to fight the decision in the courts.
Doyle and Freeman’s application to have a civil partnership at Islington Registry Office was refused on the ground that the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 states that a civil partnership is a relationship between two people of the same sex.
Speaking outside the Registry Office after their application was rejected, Doyle and Mr Freeman said: “Today we have been refused access to a legal institution because of our sexuality. We are saddened and disappointed.
“In a democratic state, all institutions should be open to all people. We are going to take legal advice and take it to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.”
Gay rights group Outrage! is supporting the couple’s legal challenge.
“OutRage! believes that in a democratic society everyone should be treated equally,” said Outrage! spokesperson Peter Tatchell.
“There should be no legal discrimination. The ban on same-sex civil marriage and on opposite-sex civil partnerships is segregationist. It is one law for straight couples and another law for gay partners. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
“Our support has raised a few eye-brows among some gays and among many straights,” added Tatchell. “But it is wholly consistent with our ethos. Our claim for LGBT human rights has always been premised on the principle of equality and non-discrimination, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. This principle applies as much to heterosexuals as it does to LGBTs.”
The couple believe that the ban on straight couples having civil partnerships may breach the European Convention on Human Rights with regard to articles eight, 12 and 14, which respectively protect the right to privacy, marriage and non-discrimination.
Doyle and Freeman announced their plans to apply for a civil partnership last week, explaining that they did not agree with the patriarchal history associated with the institution of marriage.
Is there anything that gays can have without hetrosexuals wanting to be in on it. Finally we have civil partnerships and a straight couple who are free to marry want to take that away from us aswell just to prove a point.
s salter ∼ December 7th, 2009 9:07 pm