Legal challenge planned in British and European courts
London – 24 Novmeber 2009
A London straight couple, Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle, were turned away by Islington Registry Office today when they applied to have a civil partnership. They were handed a letter of refusal which informed them:
“Part one of the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 states that a civil partnership is a relationship between two people of the same sex and therefore we would not be able to take notice of your proposed civil partnership.”
Speaking outside the Registry Office after their application was rejected, the couple said:
“Today we have been refused access to a legal institution because of our sexuality. We are saddened and disappointed. In a democratic state, all institutions should be open to all people. We are going to take legal advice and take it to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary, ” said Ms Doyle and Mr Freeman.
“They are going to need lots of support. It will be a tough legal battle. This is the first ever challenge to the ban on heterosexual couples having a civil partnership,” said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell of the gay rights group OutRage!
He and OutRage! are backing Katherine’s and Tom’s civil partnership bid and are advising them on mounting a legal challenge.
Mr Tatchell added:
“Tom and Katherine will first have to challenge this refusal through the British courts and, if this fails, then appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
“It is arguable that the ban on straight couples may breach the European Convention on Human Rights with regard to articles eight, 12 and 14, which respectively protect the right to privacy, marriage and non-discrimination.
“I am supporting the couple’s equality bid and so is the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) human rights group OutRage!
“Our support has raised a few eye-brows among some gays and among many straights. But it is wholly consistent with our ethos. Our claim for LGBT human rights has always been premised on the principle of equality and non-discrimination, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. This principle applies as much to heterosexuals as it does to LGBTs. Although I have spent much of my life campaigning against homophobia I am equally opposed to heterophobic discrimination.
“I applaud Katherine and Tom and support their bid for heterosexual equality.
“OutRage! believes that in a democratic society everyone should be treated equally. There should be no legal discrimination. The ban on same-sex civil marriage and on opposite-sex civil partnerships is segregationist. It is one law for straight couples and another law for gay partners. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
“Imagine the public reaction if the government prohibited black couples from having a civil marriage or banned them from having a civil partnership. Most people would, quite rightly, cry racism and apartheid. Well, the bans on gay marriages and straight civil partnerships are a form of sexual apartheid in law. This sexuality-based legal apartheid is just as reprehensible as legal apartheid based on race,” said Mr Tatchell.