Dear Equal Civil Partnerships community,

We’ve done it! 

Tim Loughton MP’s Civil Partnerships Bill passed unanimously in the House of Commons last Friday. As a result, by 31st December 2019 everyone in England and Wales will be able to form a civil partnership. In fact, during the debate the Government minister stated “our aim is that by the end of this year opposite-sex couples will be able to register and form civil partnerships...This is very much an end date, rather than a target.”

So now is the time to celebrate and start planning!

Meanwhile, there will be a short consultation to finalise the details. The Equal Civil Partnerships Campaign will be actively contributing to that consultation, and we will let you know how you can do so too.

Huge thanks go to each and every one of you (146,000 people!) who have signed this petition. Your campaigning - emails, postcards, placards - have sent a clear message to the Government that this measure will make a real difference to people’s lives. On a personal level, your support has kept us going through the set-backs by reminding us that we were fighting for much more than just ourselves.

We hope you enjoy planning your civil partnership. Do share your ideas with us. When we’ve recovered from the exhaustion, we’ll start planning ours too. It’s only taken five years, four Equalities Ministers, three court cases and two children to get to this point!!!

All our best,

Charles and Rebecca