...but some are more equal than others, say Janet Barlow & Rebecca Mason
The controversial Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act received royal assent last week. This Act is a ground-breaking piece of legislation which aims to put same sex couples on a level footing with that of heterosexual couples in relation to the institution of “marriage”. The Act will enable same sex couples to marry either in a civil ceremony or, if in agreement with the religious organisation, in a religious ceremony. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA 2004) had already given same sex couples the ability to make a legally recognised commitment to one another. However, this has never been regarded as a marriage due to Canon law. The Submission of the Clergy Act 1533, Canon B30, states that “the Church of England affirms, according to our Lord’s teaching that marriage is in its nature a union permanent and lifelong, for better for worse, till death them do part, of one man with one woman...” This was reaffirmed by Lord Penzance in Hyde v Hyde and Woodhouse (1866) LR
