British straight couple don't want marriage – Just gay partnership
"Denying heterosexual couples the right to have a civil partnership is heterophobic." - Peter Tatchell, Human Rights campaigner
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What in the world!?
Marriage is something gay couples have been fighting for for years to the point of settling for civil partnership. Then comes this straight couple, Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle (Pictured),so in love and want to legalize their union. But No! No! No! Not marriage ... just civil partnership – the form of legal union in Britain that is ONLY offered to gay couples. Unfortunately the couple were refused the permit from their local town-hall.
And why do they prefer civil partnership over marriage? The "Husband" and "Wife" titles don’t appeal to them. As a couple they feel like equal partners and want the government to recognize that.
According to Britain’s Guardian Newspaper, Freeman said:
"We want to secure official status for our relationship in a way that supports the call for complete equality and is free of the negative, sexist connotations of marriage … We are taking this stand against discrimination and in support of legal equality for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation."
Since marriage and civil partnership are practically one and the same in law, the human rights activists feel they should both be open to all couples – gay or straight.
The irony is, this couple doesn’t want what gay couples only wish to have. Isn’t this like a smack in the eye to the movement seeking to legalize gay marriage?
2 responses to "British straight couple don't want marriage – Just gay partnership"
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purple_lily says:Posted: 13 Nov 10
I do think this can be seen as a "smack in the eye" to gay couples, but we're dealing with two different issues here. is it the responsibility of all heterosexual couples to behave in a way that some gay couples might? (not all homosexual couples want to get married) the principle that we're fighting for is equality, on all levels, regardless of any category we can put people into to discriminate against them. If we want to say that gay marriage should be legalized because they are PEOPLE who deserve access to the same rights as everyone else regardless of sexual orientation, wouldn't it be the ultimate irony to then deny access to this domestic union partnership because the couple is heterosexual? I see the point someone could make comparing marriage and domestic partnership, but this couple seems to have a different understanding of what marriage and dp means than do a lot of people. if they believe dp is NOT a "watered down" version of marriage, but can be an authentic, legitimate and legal way to have their relationship recognized, then that's them. their explanation seems like a legitimate reason for them to pursue dp instead of marriage. I just hope this couple is serious about their commitment to each other and not just doing this as a way to gain attention.
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they just wanted to make a point. heterophobic. a bit dramatic. sheesh.