27 November 2005
UK Government
expects 22,000 couples to take civil partnerships in
next five years
Britain's Civil
Partnership Act 2004 comes into force on 5 December
2005. This will enable same sex couples to obtain
previously denied legal recognition of their
relationship. Couples who form a civil partnership
will have a new legal status, that of ‘civil
partner’.
The UK Government
expects up to 22,000 gay and lesbian couples to take
civil partnerships in the first five years.
Before the Civil
Partnership Act 2004, same sex couples were
vulnerable to all the legal insecurities of their
heterosexual peers who live together but are not
married.
"Next of kin" rules,
for example will now be made certain: a doctor will
no longer be able to deny someone their rights
because they don't approve of their lifestyle.
But not all British
same sex couples are satisfied with this new legal
opportunity.
British lesbian
couple, Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger, married
in British Columbia, Canada in August 2003. The two
university professors are now back in the UK and are
seeking a legal declaration of the validity of their
marriage.
"The Civil
Partnership Act deems our marriage a civil
partnership. In effect, we will be forced into
second-class status. A different sex couple married
in Canada would automatically have that marriage
recognised in the UK; we believe that to operate a
different set of rules for same sex couples is
profoundly discriminatory - an affront to social
justice and human rights," said Wilkinson.
Wilkinson and
Kitzinger are bringing a test case to the High
Court. Their lawyers are seeking a statutory
declaration of the validity of their marriage, with
reference to the European Convention of Human
Rights.
Their approach is
similar to that being taken by Irish lesbian couple,
Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan (also
married in Canada in 2003). They are seeking a
judicial review of the Irish Revenue Agency's
decision not to treat them as a married couple for
tax purposes. Both couples have the same objective:
to achieve full and equal recognition by the
government of their marriage.
