UK couple loses civil partnership court challenge

A heterosexual couple challenging the ban on opposite-sex civil partnerships has lost their battle in the High Court.

Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan said they wanted to commit to each other in a civil partnership ” focuses on equality” and did not carry the history of patriarchy that comes with traditional marriage.

They want to secure legal recognition of their relationship through a civil partnership, but are prevented because the Civil Partnership Act 2004 stipulates that only same-sex couples are eligible.

More than 36,000 people have written to the minister for Women and Equalities to ask for civil partnerships to be offered to opposite-sex, as well as same-sex, couples.

A few straight couples have claimed they are being discriminated against, with some believing gay couples now have “more rights” because they can obtain both a marriage and civil partnership. “Unfortunately, the judge has concluded otherwise”.

Mrs Justice Andrews said: ” By deciding to wait until it is in a better position to evaluate the impact of the 2013 Act on civil partnerships before taking any legislative steps, against a background where there is no consensus either domestically or within Europe as to the appropriate course to take, the Government is acting well within the ambit of discretion afforded to it with regard to the regulation of social matters.

In dismissing their claim for Judicial Review, the judge accepted that many people would “sympathise” with their view that it was “unfair” to deny them the same means of formal recognition as same sex couples.

During the hearings, their lawyer claimed that without a civil partnership, the couple would be either forced into a marriage against their consciences or go without the legal privileges they need to bring up their child.

The ruling comes as parliament hears the second reading of a private member’s bill proposing a change in the Civil Partnership Act to accommodate heterosexual couples on Friday (29 January).

She added: “Civil partnerships are a symmetrical, modern social institution conferring nearly identical legal rights and responsibilities as marriage, but without its historical baggage, gendered provisions and social expectations”.

Mrs Justice Andrews said even if their human rights were affected by the denial of a civil partnership, the Government was still making available the alternative means of recognition in marriage which has always existed.