Couple test British
court on gay marriage
By JOE FRIESEN,
theglobeandmail.com from the Web, August 17, 2005
LONDON -- Two British women
married in Vancouver in 2003 are bringing a challenge before Britain's High
Court of Justice to have their marriage recognized legally.
Sue Wilkinson, 51, was working at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., when
she married Celia Kitzinger, 48, an academic who teaches at the University of
York in Britain. When the couple returned to Britain, they found they were
treated differently than in Canada.
"From being a married couple and part of the normal fabric of society in Canada,
we were back in England and we were sort of an oddity, an anomaly and we had to
keep explaining ourselves," Ms. Wilkinson said. "We thought, 'This isn't
right. This is our home country, our country of birth.' "
Although gay marriage is not legal in Britain, the government passed a bill last
year legalizing same-sex civil partnerships. It will come into effect in
December. The couple, who have been advised their marriage would be
automatically classified as a civil partnership, decided to launch a legal
challenge because they say the law is discriminatory.
"If any heterosexual couple had got married in Canada and come back to Britain,
their marriage would automatically have been recognized. So, it's
discriminatory in that respect, as well."
The couple's case is being supported by Liberty, a British civil-rights group
that is supplying legal counsel and research funds.
"Our clients entered into a legal marriage in Canada," said Liberty's legal
director, James Welch. "It is a matter of fairness and equality that they
should be treated the same way as any other couple who marries abroad.
Their marriage should be recognized here."
Ms. Wilkinson said she knows of a few couples in Britain who face similar
situations. A lesbian couple in Ireland, who also married in Canada, are
challenging their country's marriage laws as they relate to tax benefits.
And Ms. Wilkinson said challenges also have been launched in Hong Kong, Taiwan
and Israel as a result of Canadian weddings.
The brief being brought by Liberty on behalf of Ms. Wilkinson and Ms. Kitzinger
calls on the British government to issue a statutory declaration on the validity
of their marriage. Although a civil partnership offers almost exactly the
same benefits and responsibilities as marriage, Ms. Wilkinson said it has its
drawbacks.
"Marriage will be able to travel much better across national boundaries," she
said. "If you travel almost anywhere in the world and you say you're
married, that is understood. But if you travel anywhere in the world and
you say that you're civil partners, that's seen as something that's peculiar to
your particular country."
Unlike in Canada, where gay lobbyists focused on securing the right to marry,
British rights groups were content to see the government recognize their
partnerships as civil unions, Ms. Wilkinson said.
She is prepared for a long, difficult legal battle. If her case is
rejected by the High Court she is prepared to appeal all the way to the House of
Lords, and if necessary to the European Court of Human Rights.
|
