Equal marriage in Scotland

7.42.45pm GMT Thu 26th Mar 2009

Is separation equality?

LGBT Lib Dem group DELGA is backing the "Equal Marriage" campaign in Scotland to open up marriage and civil partnerships to couples regardless of gender.

Jen Yockney, Chair of DELGA said, "The current law creates an arbitrary division and causes needless problems such as the situation of couples where a trans partner obtains gender recognition being obliged to divorce and re-register their relationship. It is a case of 'separate but equal'; but keeping people separate will always suggest they are not truly equal."

"Civil Partnerships, which were pioneered in Parliament by the Lib Dem Lord Lester, represent a great step forward given where we were ten or twenty years ago when Labour and Tories in Parliament together blocked equality measures repeatedly.

"But the law as it stands implies that lesbian or gay partners, and bisexuals in same-sex partnerships, need to be treated separately - as if their love and relationships are somehow different. In times past many people thought that but increasingly as a society we have realised that, simply, love is love. It's time to move on."

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