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Greens back gay marriage

10th Oct 2004

First major UK party to call for end to "sexual apartheid"

The ban on same-sex marriage is discriminatory and divisive, says the Green Party as the House of Commons prepares to debate the Civil Partnership Bill this week (on Tuesday 12 October).

Jean Lambert MEP (Green Party, London) said today: "The recognition of same-sex marriages is a vital step towards ending legally-sanctioned homophobic discrimination. If MPs are serious about social justice, they must allow gay marriages and end another facet of the UK's institutional homophobia. Stopping people from making a public and lifelong commitment to one other just seems perverse."

Darren Johnson AM, a Green Party member of the London Assembly and one of Britain's most high-profile openly-gay politicians, added: "Whether marriage or civil partnership, the options should be open to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation."

And Peter Tatchell, leading gay human rights campaigner and Green Party member, added: "Excluding gay couples from marriage is an affront to democracy and human rights. Denying people the right to marry because of their sexual orientation violates the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that every adult person has a right to marry."

Sexual apartheid

Peter Tatchell continued: "The Civil Partnership Bill creates a form of sexual apartheid, with one law for heterosexuals and another for gays. Same-sex couples are excluded from marriage and opposite-sex partners are excluded from civil partnerships. This is not equality. It reinforces and perpetuates discrimination," he said.

The Greens are endorsing the Coalition for Marriage Equality - a network of gay and humanist groups who oppose the government's "second best" Civil Partnership Bill. The Bill denies same-sex partners the same pension rights as married heterosexuals.

The CfME is backed by nearly all non-party political gay groups, including OutRage!, the Gay & Lesbian Humanist Association, Queer Youth Alliance and the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement.

Urging an end to the ban, the Greens are the first UK political party to support the campaign for gay civil marriage.

Step in right direction - but not far enough

Keith Taylor, the Green Party's Principal Speaker, said:Keith Taylor, the Green Party Convemor, said: "While the Civil Partnership Bill is a welcome first step, it doesn't offer true equality for gay people - it creates a new form of legislative discrimination." Referring to the Green Party's Real Progress slogan, he added: "Gay equality would be real progress."

Cllr Taylor, one of the strong Green Party group on Brighton & Hove council - a city with 30,000 gay voters - continued: "It would be far better if the government took a principled stand by ending the inequality inherent in marriage law. Giving lesbian and gay people marriage rights is the ethical thing to do," he said.

Caroline Lucas MEP (Green Party, South East England), the party's other Principal Speaker, added: "Greens have been at the forefront of pushing the EU's anti-discrimination agenda. As an MEP I have campaigned for the recognition of same-sex marriages across the EU - and there is no excuse for the UK maintaining its discriminatory and outdated position."

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