Marriage is the answer for committed heterosexual couples
by Harry Benson, The Conservative Woman:
In my family, we have an expression: “WAM”. It means “What About Me” and is usually lobbed in the direction of whichever one of our children is claiming unfair treatment. Actually as parents we try really hard to be fair. But “WAM” reminds them to make the most of what they have, rather than compare themselves to what somebody else might or might not have. Invariably they take it well and we move on.
All of which is to say that the couple who have just had their case for civil partnerships for different sex couples turned down by the Court of Appeal fit firmly into this category. This is a “WAM” couple who were definitely pushing their luck.
‘Civil partnerships’ were created in 2003 to provide similar legal rights and protections for same sex couples as for heterosexual married couples, but without calling it ‘marriage’. Two years ago, the law allowed for marriage of same sex couples, leaving civil partnerships looking like an interim measure.
It’s possible that equal civil partnership for heterosexual couples may yet happen through a private members Bill. But maybe the MPs will see the way the wind is blowing and forget it.
Prior to the introduction of same sex marriage, there was one civil partnership for every 40 marriages. In 2015, for every civil partnership, there were around seven same sex marriages and 278 heterosexual marriages.
The appeal court ruling paves the way for civil partnerships to die a natural death that was happening anyway.
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