A lesbian couple who travelled to Canada to legally get “married” under the country’s laws have failed in their British High Court bid to have their union given full legal status in the UK.
Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson, of North Yorkshire, were controversially married in Vancouver in 2003, and have been trying to get their marriage legalised in the UK, but their battle ended in defeat as a judge ruled that their union could be recognised as a civil partnership, but not marriage.In response the pair said that the UK's failure to recognise the legality of their vows was a breach of their human rights.
University of York and Loughborough University academics had rejected the conversion of their “marriage” to a civil partnership under the UK's Civil Partnership Act, saying it was not sufficient.
However, the President of the High Court Family Division, Sir Mark Potter, has said the couple faced "an insurmountable hurdle" in trying to have a same-sex marriage recognised in English law.
The ruling which was given today also stated that the majority of people and governments across Europe regarded marriage as an "age-old institution".
It was regarded as a means to encourage monogamy and the procreation of children, to be nurtured in a family unit with both maternal and paternal influences.
The UK Civil Partnerships Act came into force in December 2005, and has since caused great controversy across Christian and religious groups in the nation.From 5th December 2005, homosexual couples were given the legal right to start registering themselves for a legally-binding union, which is very much equal to marriage in most senses except the title.
Reports as the Act came into force estimated that Britain is expecting some 16,000 homosexual couples to use the new law by 2010.
