Opposite sex couples can gain legal status for their relationship through marriage, but there’s no way to legally recognise a long-term, stable and committed relationship if you happen to be a same-sex couple.  And because same-sex couples find that the law treats their relationships as invisible, they can come up against significant problems in their everyday lives.

The Government is determined to change that.  Through the Civil Partnership Bill, published today, we are proposing a package of rights and responsibilities that would address these problems and give justice and dignity to same-sex couples.

But Civil Partnership is not exclusively about remedying problems.  It is about positively recognising relationships that can, and do, contribute to the public good.  It’s about respect.

I believe that if we value everybody’s worth equally as well as celebrating what makes us unique as individuals, our society will be a stronger and better place.  Yet in work and life we still find that people are faced with discrimination. 

Civil Partnerships would be a significant milestone in ending discrimination, because it would mean legal recognition for thousands of same-sex couples across Britain. Like marriage, it would bring with it rights and responsibilities.

A same-sex couple in a civil partnership would have access to employment benefits traditionally enjoyed by spouses, be covered by the rules covering dying without leaving a will and gain protection from domestic violence. 

They would also enjoy employment and pensions benefits, equal treatment for life assurance purposes, fatal accident compensation and recognition of a legal relationship for immigration and asylum purposes. 

And fundamentally, they would be able to stand up in front of their families and friends, and make a public commitment in the eyes of the law. 

If a relationship broke down, then just like married heterosexual couples, the Partnership would have to be dissolved through a formal, court based process.  And just like married couples, the law would ensure that couples who did split up would have a duty to provide maintenance to their partner, and to their children.

I laid this Bill before Parliament because committed same-sex relationships should have the same opportunity afforded to opposite-sex couples. 

I believe that this Bill supports and encourages stable family lives, particularly for children, and helps to create a better society for everyone, because diversity is valued and discrimination is not tolerated. 

People’s lives are complicated – nobody conforms to a stereotype, and this Bill will bring into law and practice the every day realities of modern society. 

And that will lead to real respect, real recognition and real justice for the many who have been denied it for far too long.

Links

Government Unveils Partnership Proposals for Same-Sex Couples
FAQs On Civil Partnerships

31 March, 2004