A gay charity that organises ceremonies of love and commitment for same-sex couples is calling on the Government to follow the lead of the Dutch and give legal recognition to gay marriage.
The Pink Triangle Trust (PTT) has been organising ceremonies for lesbian and gay couples for many years. The resulting unions have no legal status, however, and the ceremonies are purely symbolic.
However, on 1 April 2001 the Netherlands will see its first officially-recognised same-sex marriages that will give the participants the same legal rights as opposite-sex partners – including the right to adopt.
PTT spokesperson George Broadhead said “The Netherlands is the latest European country to grant partnership rights to gay and lesbian couples and we wish them the best of luck. However, the progress being made on the continent in putting right this injustice is not even on the agenda in Britain. We call on Mr Blair and all MPs to support partnership rights for same-sex couples in the UK.
“We accept that there will be resistance to any moves to legalise gay marriage from the churches, but there is no reason why they need to be involved. Civil unions are perfectly adequate, and the PTT’s tailor-made ceremonies are humanist and make no reference to religion.”
Mr Broadhead said that the PTT receives hundreds of requests for the ceremonies for same-sex couples each year, and the demand was growing. “It is clear”, he said, “that many gay couples want to formalise their relationship and to have the same rights that heterosexual married people take for granted. At present gay partners are not regarded as next of kin, they do not have the inheritance rights of heterosexual spouses and many pension schemes will not allow a survivor’s pension to be paid to a same-sex partner. Nor can gay people adopt as a couple – only as individuals. A simple legal recognition of our partnerships would right all these glaring injustices.”