High Court Denies Lesbian Couple Right to Gay 'Marriage'

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.