13 January 2009
Bid To Convert Scottish Civil
Partnerships To Marriage
From: The Herald (Scotland)
An attempt to allow gay and lesbian couples to
legally marry was today launched in the Scottish Parliament.
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A petition calling for
equal marriage has been referred to a parliamentary
committee of the Scottish Parliament.
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A petition calling for
equal marriage has been referred to a parliamentary
committee of the Scottish Parliament.
The petition also wants same-sex couples to be allowed the choice of having a religious marriage, if the religion permits it.
The Scottish Parliament petition was organised
by sexual equality group the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Network (LGBT).
Network director Nick Henderson said: "Equality
means all citizens should be treated the same, and that everyone must have the
same rights under law.
"Yet the status quo ensures a system of one law
for straight couples and another for gay couples.
"Whatever the similarities between civil
partnerships and marriage - separate but equal is inherently unequal."
The petition, which will be considered by a
Holyrood committee, is seeking an amendment to the 1977 Marriage (Scotland) Act
to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.
It also wants the law changed to enable
religious same-sex ceremonies - legislation on civil partnerships forbids
mention of religion, requiring all partnerships to be secular.
Mr Henderson said: "We want to see gay couples
being allowed to have a religious, as well as a civil marriage, if the faith
group allows it.
"There is a huge diversity of opinion among
faith groups on same sex marriage - churches, temples and synagogues should be
able to decide if they want to marry couples or not.
"The Government is wrong to assume that being
religious and being LGBT are incompatible with each other, nor should the state
say that one religious group is right and the other is wrong."
The LGBT Network (Scotland) invites you to
sign an e-petition.
