Equal MarriageMedia Briefing

11 December 2012

Why marriage is important

• Marriage is one of the most important institutions we have. It is the bedrock of a stable and happy society

• Giving all couples the right to marry will help ensure marriage remains relevant and vibrant today

• Being gay is not a good reason for the State to stop couples marrying

• Under our proposals, same-sex couples will be able to marry

Background – marriage and civil partnership

• Marriage is currently only possible between a man and a woman

• Marriage can be formed either in a civil ceremony (register office of other approved premises like a hotel) or through a religious ceremony

• Civil Partnership Act 2004 gave equivalent rights and responsibilities as marriage

• More than 50,000 since introduction in 2005

• Since December 2011 civil partnerships can be held on religious premises (on a voluntary basis)

Civil partnerships are not marriage

• Civil partnerships were an important step forward

• But, differences between marriage and civil partnership have remained:

– 2 separate, legal institutions, with 2 separate names;

– You are married by saying a set form of words; civil partners only sign a register

– Existing ban creates problems for people seeking a gender recognition certificate

• To change your gender, you currently have to end your marriage

• Graphic 1: Equal Marriage – key proposals

• Freedom of religion is already guaranteed under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights

• ‘Quadruple lock’ provides additional security for religious organisations

• We will continue to work closely with religious organisations on details of these protections

• We recognise strong feelings on both sides of the debate

Protections for religious bodies

For the record

• No religious body will be forced to conduct same sex marriages

• Equal marriage doesn’t change anything about our approach to teaching in schools. Head teachers will still decide what teachers in their school should teach

• We are not removing the terms ‘wife’ and ‘husband’ or ‘father’ and ‘mother’