A legal challenge over same-sex marriage has come a step closer after
a gay couple in Greenwich were refused permission to marry.
They are
the latest same-sex couple to apply for a marriage licence before
challenging their refusal in the courts.
David Watters and Richard Hull were turned away from Greenwich
Register Office on the grounds that UK law states that marriage partners
have to be male and female.
They declined the option of a civil
partnership.
While the legal rights involved in marriages and civil
partnerships are almost identical, campaigners insist that the
difference in language is discriminatory.
Watters and Hull are part of the Equal Love campaign, which involves
four same-sex couples applying to register a marriage and four mixed-sex
couples requesting a civil partnership.
After all eight couples have
been refused, they will take the matter to the courts.
They are the sixth couple to have been refused so far.
The campaign
was kicked off in October, when Rev Sharon Ferguson was refused
permission to marry her female partner.
The campaign is backed by the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, the
human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and Robert Wintemute, Professor
of Human Rights Law at King's College London.
Wintemute argues that the
current situation breaches both UK and EU laws against discrimination
on grounds of sexual orientation.
"Being refused the licence didn't exactly come as a surprise,”
admitted Watters, “What does surprise me is that society still
tolerates homophobic discrimination in marriage law”.
He said he had mixed emotions, with a “great sense of sadness and
anger that my love for Richard is not accorded the same respect and
rights as the love that heterosexuals share”.
But he added that, “It is
overwhelming to be part of such an historic campaign. I have an immense
feeling of hope and positivity about the eventual outcome”.
His partner Richard Hull insisted, “Our love is no less than that
shared by a heterosexual couple. Speaking as a gay man who once had a
heterosexual marriage, I feel cheated. I was allowed to get married when
I was engaged to a woman but I am denied this option when I want to
marry David.”
He explained, “I don't want to settle for a civil partnership which, for us, is not an adequate option".
David Watters is a personal development consultant, writer on equality issues and author of Never Blend In: The legacy of Harvey Milk. Richard Hull is a catering manager and chef.
They have been together in a relationship for six years.
Peter Tatchell, who attended the register office with Watters and
Hull, said, "A similar ban on Asian or Jewish marriages would provoke
fierce condemnation and mass protests. So why are so many people silent
about the ban on gay marriages?"
The Equal Love campaigners argue that public attitudes have shifted
strongly in favour of allowing same-sex couples to marry.
They point
out that a Populus opinion poll in June 2009 found that 61 per cent of
the public believe that "gay couples should have an equal right to get
married, not just to have civil partnerships."
Only 33 per cent
disagreed.
SIC: Ekklesia/UK