9
ISSUES: Marriage
Chapter 1: Marriage
“Part 1 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004
is amended as follows: In Section 1,
subsection (1), leave out ‘of the same
sex’.” That’s it.
But there is opposition. In the Commons,
the minister for apprenticeships and
skills, Robert Halfon, argued that
Loughton’s amending bill could have
“unknown, untested effects on myriad
legislation-spanning areas such as
pensions,
devolution,
international
recognition,
gender
recognition,
adultery and consummation”, arguing,
in effect, that theworkwasn’t worth it for
a minor change. Others have been more
forthright: when the issue was broached
during the debates around same-sex
marriage, David Cameron argued that
such a change could “weaken” marriage.
It’s difficult to respond. On the one hand,
marriage seems far more weakened
by forcing it upon couples who don’t
believe in the institution. On the other,
international evidence suggests that
civil partnerships could be surprisingly
popular.
The
French
equivalent
to
civil
partnerships is called the civil solidarity
pact (
pacte civil de solidarité
, or Pacs).
Like British civil partnerships, its roots lie
in an attempt to satisfy demands from
same-sex couples for equal marriage;
unlike civil partnerships, it was solidly
second-tier, with lesser tax benefits and
property rights matched by a simpler
process for separation.
Despite this, they have proved
remarkably popular for couples of mixed
and same genders: in 2015, according
to the French national statistics board
Insee, 188,900 couples entered into a
Pacs, compared with 236,400 couples
who got married. Marriage figures have
declined by a fifth in a little more than a
decade, and it looks as if most of those
couples are getting Pacs instead. It’s
not all bad for defenders of traditional
marriage, though: more than 40% of
Pacs unions that end do so because the
couple decide to get married.
There is one place in the British Isles
where mixed-sex couples can get civil
partnerships: the Isle of Man. In July
2016, the crown dependency legalised
same-sex marriage, and went one step
further by also legalising mixed-sex civil
partnerships.
Adeline Cosson and Kieran Hodgson,
the first mixed-sex couple to get one
on the island, said that they wanted
to “keep it simple” rather than have
a traditional wedding, but didn’t rule
out getting married at a later date – a
reminder that not everyonewhowants a
civil partnership is opposed to marriage
itself.
Despite the island’s close ties to the
UK, Manx civil partnerships aren’t
recognised by the British Government
unless they are between same-sex
couples, but that hasn’t stopped mixed-
sex couples making the three-hour
boat trip from Liverpool – or 80-minute
flight from London – to get one. Martin
Loat and Claire Beale were the first such
couple from the UK, and the second on
the island, to register their partnership.
“We’ve never really been the marrying
types,” says Loat. “We don’t feel it’s
necessary to take a vow or publicly
pledge in any form to validate our
relationship.” He and Beale travelled
to the island in the hope that their
partnership would be a small addition
to the pressure on the UK to legislate for
equality.
There is another constituency with a
voice worth hearing on the matter:
the LGBT community, for whom civil
partnerships were created in the first
place. Ben Summerskill, director of
the Criminal Justice Alliance, was chief
executive of Stonewall from 2003 to
2014, and was instrumental in the fight
for civil partnerships andequalmarriage.
By and large, he says, he wants to
stay out of the debate. “My view is
that it’s really for straight people to
decide whether they want them, and
it’s not for me to go round instructing
straight people what’s good for them.”
Nonetheless, he acknowledges that gay
people may have a reason for speaking
up. Many, for instance, still choose to get
civil partnerships, despite the option of
marriage being available.
“I think the reason for that is that there
were quite a lot of gay people who
feel that they waited an incredibly
long time for this, and finally had
something that was slightly special, and
certainly recognised their existence,”
he says. Their importance as a tool of
gay visibility, even today, shouldn’t be
underestimated: “Suddenly, on the
income tax form, it said ‘marriage or civil
partnerships’. Within five years almost
everyone in this country knew someone
who was in a civil partnership, or had
been to a celebration, and all of them
were just like all the weddings everyone
has been to.”
Hawkins, of the Equal Civil Partnerships
campaign, acknowledges this argument.
But, he says, “What we want to be about
is treating love, and couples, entirely as
equals. Everyone’s relationship is special.
But if it’s seen as good enough for same-
sex couples, it should be good enough
for mixed-sex couples.”
I would like a civil partnership, but
unlike Hawkins, Steinfeld and Keidan, I
haven’t spent my life campaigning for
it. I do worry it could undercut the years
that LGBT activists spent arguing civil
partnerships were an offensive half-
measure on the road to true equality.
It’s also true that many of the issues of
remaining unmarried can be countered
on a piecemeal basis, with contracts and
undertakings. But just as I don’t want my
romantic life to have a seal of approval
from the state, to have to ‘take’ someone
asmy ‘wife’, I alsodon’twant it todevolve
into a mountain of paperwork just to
ensure I can visit my partner in hospital
if the worst happens.
Because of that possibility, I’m grateful
to the campaign for pushing for my
rights, and for those of so many others.
If the Royal Courts of Justice rejects
Steinfeld and Keidan’s case, that’s not
the end of the matter: Loughton’s bill
offers hope, and even the Government
has suggested reviewing the law at
some point.
But if all that fails – well, then my bluff
has been called. Is it really that I don’t
like the implications of a traditional
service, the outdated terminology, and
the long history of patriarchy looming
over the whole thing? Or am I just afraid
of commitment? Hopefully, I’ll find out
sooner rather than later.
20 February 2017
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