Heterosexual couples could be given the right to have civil partnerships under proposals being considered by the Government.
Tory former minister Tim Loughton has been pushing for a change in the law to end the ‘unfair’ inequality and give straight couples the same rights as gay people.
He has warned the discrepancy is unfair to heterosexual couples who want to seal their relationship in the eyes of the law but not through the institution of marriage.
Tory MP Nigel Huddlestone said that in ‘trying to eliminate one form of discrimination’ and passing gay marriage Parliament had ‘unintentionally created another’.
Mr Loughton today brought forward a Bill which would let heterosexual coupes have civil partnerships too.
Rebecca Steinfield (left) and her partner Charles Keidan (right) went to the Court of Appeals for the right to enter into a civil partnership. They lost that appeal in February 2017
Tory former minister Tim Loughton has been pushing for a change in the law to end the ‘unfair’ inequality and give straight couples the same rights as gay people
And ministers – who back other parts of the Bill which cover registering stillbirths – said they would launch a consultation into how civil partnerships work.
It is expected this will look at whether to change the law and allow all couples, regardless of sexuality, the right to have a civil partnership.
Outlining why he was bringing forward the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths Bill in Parliament this morning, Mr Loughton said he wants to tackle an accidental inequality in the law.
He said: ‘The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 gave rise to an unintended new inequality.
‘And it is surely time for equal civil partnerships—a natural extension that was supported across all parties when the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was introduced and that has just as much support now.
‘In the consultation that the Government conducted before the introduction of that Bill, 61 per cent of respondents were in favour of extending civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples.
‘Alas, for some inexplicable reason, the proposal never made it into the Act. If it had done, the Act would have been better; that is why change is necessary today.’
Under current laws only single-sex couples can have a civil partnership – which gives couples the same legal rights as married couples.
But now they can also get married after the law was changed, giving them more legal options than mixed sex couples.
Mr Huddleston, Conservative MP for Mid Worcestershire, gave his backing to the law change.
Tim Loughton has warned the discrepancy is unfair to heterosexual couples who want to seal their relationship in the eyes of the law but not through the institution of marriage
He told the Commons: ‘Although civil partnerships were introduced to extend the rights available to same sex couples, rather than as an alternative to marriage, it has had the unintended consequence of creating an inherent inequality on the basis of sexual orientation.
‘By trying to eliminate one form of discrimination, we have unintentionally created another.’
He added: ‘I hope the Government listen carefully to the arguments made today and act accordingly, because Britain has changed, attitudes have changed and it is time that the law caught up.’
Home Office minister Victoria Atkins said the Government will ‘undertake further review of the operation’ of civil partnerships and bring forward proposals about how the law ought to be changed ‘so the difference in treatment in the current system is resolved’.
The Bill passed its second reading, but will have to return to Parliament to be debated again before it becomes law.
How a couple fought the law
Charles Keidan and Rebecca Steinfeld have taken the Government to court over the fact that the law does not allow them to enter into a civil partnership.
The couple, who have a two-year-old daughter, say they have ‘deep-rooted and ideological objections’ to the ‘patriarchal baggage’ of marriage.
Charles Keidan (left) and Rebecca Steinfeld (right) pose outside of the Royal Courts of Justice in London. They lost their court appeal to enter a civil partnership
But they want to enter a civil partnership to secure legal recognition of their eight-year relationship.
Last February the Court of Appeal ruled that Miss Steinfeld, 36, and Mr Keidan, 41, had established potential violation of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Right, which relates to discrimination, and Article 8, which safeguards family life.
But a panel of three judges then said the Government should have more time to evaluate the future of civil partnerships before declaring them incompatible with human rights laws.
The academics, from Hammersmith, West London, are fighting on and their case is next listed to be heard in the Supreme Court in May.