WANTED: Gay Couple To Help Straight Couple Get A Civil Partnership
Posted: 11th Dec 2009 Author: Michelle Penny Topics: Civil Partnerships
Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle, a heterosexual couple from Islington, who are trying to challenge the ban which says only gay and lesbian couples can have civil partnerships are looking for a gay couple to join their fight for equality.
Believing the restrictions on gay couples having marriages and straight couples having civil partnerships are discriminatory, the couple are now planning to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after Islington refused them a civil partnership in line with the Civil Partnerships Act 2005.
Saying they had been advised by a leading human rights lawyer and the gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell that their best chance of success would be to find a gay couple who had had a marriage application refused, the couple are now seeking a gay couple to take their case to the ECHR jointly.
Telling the Pink News that taking the case to the European courts would avoid the high legal costs that would build up in the UK, Freeman said “It’s now just a people’s rights thing. No one should be kept out of institutions because of their sexuality. Unless someone can tell me a good reason why, it is really divisive. It continues this ‘othering’ of the gay community, and the ‘othering’ of the straight community to gays. It’s just about equality.”
Freeman also said the couple had been impressed by the support they’d received with their local MP and gay rights supporter, Emily Thornberry, saying she will raise the issue in parliament and has invited them to the House of Commons in January.
Have you and your partner applied for a marriage application but been turned down? Want to get involved in the fight? You can get in touch with Tom and Katherine via their emails – thomascolinfreeman@gmail.com or katherine.doyle@gmail.com – or through their Facebook group.
