3. 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
4.
5. 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)
6. 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
8. Protections for religious bodies
• 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
9.
10. 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’