Dear Equal Civil Partnerships community,
The Bill that would open civil partnerships to all reaches its penultimate stage in the House of Lords on Friday 1st March. The good news is that the bill has widespread support – and now, crucially, government backing.
The bad news is that an amendment was tabled today that could lead to the whole Bill being blocked. That amendment seeks to extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland. It has been tabled by a Conservative peer, Lord Hayward, a committed and principled champion of equal rights with a long-standing and honourable commitment to the introduction of equal marriage in Northern Ireland.
We unreservedly support his intention. Indeed, we campaigned for same-sex marriage in our own community. We sincerely hope that by next year, equal civil partnerships and equal marriage for everyone – and everywhere – in the United Kingdom will be a reality for all.
But with the Government relying on the support of the DUP in Parliament, and with the DUP opposed to equal marriage in Northern Ireland, our fear is that the Government will vote down the Bill if this amendment is included. Our worry is that this well-meaning amendment will not achieve its objective, but could have the unintended consequence of blocking equal civil partnerships, which Lord Hayward supports, and all the other positive aspects of the Bill: mothers’ names on marriage certificates, giving coroners powers to investigate stillbirths, and giving mothers who lose their babies before the 24th week the chance to register their babies’ lives.
All these progressive changes could be in jeopardy if the whole Bill is voted down.
So with reluctance, we are asking Lord Hayward to please find another legislative mechanism through which to introduce equal marriage in Northern Ireland so that equal civil partnerships and the other progressive measures above can finally become a reality for those who need and deserve them.
We pledge personally to do everything in our power to help Lord Hayward to press the Government to extend marriage to same-sex couples in Northern Ireland.
You could help by doing the following:
Contact Lord Hayward now at the House of Lords: robertahayward11@gmail.com
- Thank Lord Hayward for his principled efforts to advance equal marriage in Northern Ireland
- But ask him to please withdraw his amendment before any vote and consider using other means to press that issue
- Explain what a difference a civil partnership would make to you
If you can, please also ask the Whips Offices at the House of Lords to support the Bill without any further amendment:
- Conservative Whips Office: holgovernmentwhips@parliament.uk
- Labour Whips Office: coffmanb@parliament.uk
- Lib Dem Whips Office: plummere@parliament.uk
Do please also contact other peers that you have a connection with or that you know will be attending the debate and ask them to support the Bill with no further amendments.
We only have until Friday 1st March to persuade Lord Hayward not to press his amendment or to ensure he is unsuccessful if he does, so please write today.
Thank you for taking action,
Rebecca and Charles
For campaign updates, go to http://equalcivilpartnerships.org.uk/
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