Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage

Glenis Willmott MEP (Labour, East Midlands) is the leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP) and Michael Cashman MEP (Labour, West Midlands) is the co-president of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights

In the same week a Tory peer unsuccessfully tried to ban same-sex civil partnerships on religious premises, Labour MEPs pledged their full support for same-sex marriage. All 13 of Labour’s representatives in Brussels backed the Equal Love campaign, calling for the legalisation of both same-sex marriages and opposite-sex civil partnerships.

Glenis-Wilmott-Michael-Cashman-Equal-Love-pledge
This unanimous support has prompted prominent LGBT campaigner Peter Tatchell to call on our colleagues in Westminster to follow suit.

As Labour politicians we are proud of the huge advances in gay rights the Labour government achieved. Civil partnership legislation was a groundbreaking first step, but it is time to end the discrimination, once and for all.

It would be unthinkable to outlaw marriage on the grounds of race, nationality or disability. Yet it is still somehow acceptable to get in the way of two people’s commitment to each other, purely on the basis of their gender. The truth is that gay and lesbian people have been getting married for years – just not to the person they love. If family is one of society’s building blocks, we must send out a clear message that people are free to marry the person they love.

A society where everyone can marry is infinitely healthier than a society of loveless marriages, secret romances, heartbreak and shame. And what about the children growing up in these broken families?

Just this week, researchers found that allowing same-sex couples to marry in Massachusetts increased their overall health.

Of course marriage is not for everyone. For those couples who want the legal and financial guarantees of marriage, but do not want to be married, there are civil partnerships. At the moment these are only available to same-sex couples; but why should different-sex couples be denied the option?

David Cameron has certainly never been clear on his views on gay rights, but we welcome his backing of same-sex marriage. Unfortunately there will always be those in the Conservative party who narrow-mindedly compare same-sex marriage to marrying a dog. On this we hope Cameron has the guts to stand up against some of his backbenchers, and does not cave in to the extremists in the same way he has done on Europe.

In the meantime we will continue to fight for better LGBT rights across the European Union and in those countries that want to become members of the EU. We are also fighting for same-sex couples to have their existing marriages or partnerships legally recognised wherever they are in Europe.

See also:

• Time for the Commonwealth to stop the criminalisation of sexuality – Frederick Cowell, October 28th 2011

• The Mail’s rent-a-rev called for gays to be tattooed with health warnings – Alex Hern, October 27th 2011

• Equal Love – the law should recognise gay marriage and same-sex civil partnerships – Peter Tatchell, July 31st 2011

• Bigots vow to bring Ugandan anti-gay bill back – we must continue to fight them – Paul Canning, May 16th 2011

• Tebbit’s extraordinary rant about a “Big Society gay wedding” – Shamik Das, February 21st 2011

http://twitter.com/tc_applications/status/148834689908609025 online assessments

Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage, write @GlenisWillmott and @MCashmanMEP: http://t.co/FyHYcH9o
http://twitter.com/oxunicampaign/status/148838034706673664 Demsey

RT @leftfootfwd: Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage http://t.co/pNcuX441
http://twitter.com/patronpress/status/148840129316925440 Patron Press – #P2

#UK : Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage http://t.co/hCRLVkef
http://twitter.com/lgbtiqgreens/status/148851749174784000 Green Party LGBTIQ

Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage, write @GlenisWillmott and @MCashmanMEP: http://t.co/FyHYcH9o
http://twitter.com/elwyns/status/148852491222663168 Elwyn Sharps

Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage, write @GlenisWillmott and @MCashmanMEP: http://t.co/FyHYcH9o
http://twitter.com/gaymarriageword/status/148860443279101955 Mike Smith

Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage http://t.co/6PBJ5wEX
http://twitter.com/blahlgbyouth/status/148864268396273665 BLAH LGB Youth

Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage
http://t.co/l7D3McDQ
http://twitter.com/june4th/status/148876046417141761 Noxi

RT @leftfootfwd Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage, write @GlenisWillmott + @mcashmanMEP: http://t.co/orGTKLlq
http://twitter.com/noxhanti/status/148876051521601536 Noxi

RT @leftfootfwd Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage, write @GlenisWillmott + @mcashmanMEP: http://t.co/WmPjOBkK
http://twitter.com/diversity_dude/status/148904942671892482 Michael Bach

Equal love: Time for the #UK #Parliament to recognise #gaymarriage
http://t.co/nR27RCT4 #diversity #equality #LGBT #lgbtqi #civilrights
Stephen Wigmore

Please explain the precise difference between a heterosexual civil partnership and a civil marriage? Or for that matter a civil partnership and a gay marriage? Apart from literally the use of the word marriage.

I genuinely don’t understand what is being asked for here, If a gay couple want they can have a civil partnership, they can call it a marriage, invite friends to their wedding, and consider themselves husband and husband. There’s nothing to stop them. And the same for a heterosexual couple. If they don’t want to call their marriage a marriage then they don’t have to. Nobody will force that word on them.

I genuinely don’t see what change in the law is being proposed here or what right is being asked for.
http://twitter.com/gleniswillmott/status/149101044952080384 Glenis Willmott MEP

RT @leftfootfwd: Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage http://t.co/HYWyfrnm
http://twitter.com/lawrencemills/status/149101887910711296 Lawrence Mills

RT @leftfootfwd: Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage http://t.co/HYWyfrnm
http://twitter.com/gayrightsupport/status/149125714208239617 Gay Rights

Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage …: MEPs Glenis Wilmott and Michael Cashman ar… http://t.co/xtnHdSBp
Kaito A

But what if they want to use the word “marriage” and not just say it?
Don’t you think they should have that right?
http://twitter.com/mikelesurf/status/153576582831808513 Mike Le-Surf

RT @leftfootfwd: Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage http://t.co/HYWyfrnm
http://twitter.com/eurocrat/status/154615186140037121 Gergely Polner

Time for UK Parliament to recognize gay marriage say @GlenisWillmott and @mcashmanMEP http://t.co/GbhOqfJd
Frizzled

As we’ve seen in Canada and Spain: other jurisdictions that recognize same-sex marriage will not recognize a UK civil partnership. Marriage is defined under international law, civil partnerships aren’t.

That’s beside the general point that the UK’s marriage discrimination would be unacceptable on, say, people of different races.
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2012/01/cameron-must-speak-out-against-canadas-anti-gay-marriage-ruling/ Cameron must speak out against Canada’s anti-gay marriage ruling | Left Foot Forward

[...] Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage – Glenis Willmott MEP and Michael Cashman MEP, December 19th [...]
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2012/02/maryland-14-year-old-girl-birthday-wish-ban-gay-marriage/ Maryland madness: 14-year-old girl’s birthday wish? “Ban gay marriage” | Left Foot Forward

[...] Equal love: Time for the UK Parliament to recognise gay marriage – Glenis Willmott MEP and Michael Cashman MEP, December 19th [...]