GALHA members first to register civil partnership

Two GALHA members, Bryce Morrison and Lyndon Scarffe, who took part in the Chester weekend gathering earlier this month, were featured in both The Daily Telegraph and The Times yesterday (15 September) concerning their intention to register their partnership under the Civil Partnerships Act which come into force on 5 December this year.The couple attended the Government's launch of a campaign to promote awareness of the new legislation.

The Daily Telegraph report referred to gay rights activists' criticism of the Government for refusing to describe the partnerships as marriages.

GALHA welcomed the legislation as a step in the right direction, but it joined the Coalition for Marriage Equality which campaigned for complete parity with heterosexual marriage as has already been introduced in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and Spain.

The GALHA submission to the Government on the issue can be found at http://www.galha.org/submission/2003_09.html