Following a lengthy battle to change the law, thousands of heterosexual couples in England and Wales will be able to enter into a civil partnership this week, rather than a traditional marriage.
Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan will be among them after they spearheaded the campaign to allow opposite-sex couples to become civil partners.
They said that a civil partnership for them felt more equal.
The couple finally won their battle at the Supreme Court in 2018 arguing that denying a straight couple the right to a civil partnership was discriminatory, and therefore “incompatible with their human rights”.
After fighting through three courts, the couple were joined at Kensington and Chelsea Register Office in front of their two daughters Ariel and Eden.
Charles and Rebecca chose a civil partnership because they, as well as many others who will enter into one this week, disagree with the patriarchal nature of traditional marriage.
Rebecca told [link below]HuffPost UK[/link] that she wanted to ‘get hitched like a feminist’.
She added: “It matters that same-sex couples can marry – something we campaigned for within our community.
“But it also matters that feminists like me, in mixed-sex relationships, can, through civil partnerships, formalise a relationship of equals, and avoid labels like ‘wife’ together with all the gendered expectations that come with them.”
Charles stated that the civil partnership is “the perfect expression of our values and relationship – of love for one another and an aspiration to be a partnership of equals.”
The pair said they were aiming for a ceremony “without huge expense and with minimal fanfare”.
Another opposite-sex couple tying the knot in a civil ceremony was Ann ‘Pee-Wee’ Chamings and John Eccles who have been together for more than 40 years.
Their ceremony took place at Hastings Town Hall, witnessed by their two children. The couple from East Sussex was another of those who went to the Royal Courts of Justice to fight for the right for opposite-sex couples to enter into a civil partnership.
The civil partnership was previously only available to same-sex couples – legislation that was introduced prior to the legalisation of gay marriage and then left unchanged. They offer almost identical rights to traditional marriages, including property, inheritance, and tax entitlements.
The government has estimated that around 84,000 mixed-sex couples could become civil partners next year, while those outside the UK who have entered into an equivalent to a civil partnership have now been made into legal civil partners in England and Wales.
Legal professionals are hailing the move as a forward step in equality and progression, and hope the trend will continue.
“It is wonderful to wrap up this decade with equality on civil partnerships, as it is vital that both same-sex and opposite-sex couples feel as though they are included in every aspect of our society’s idea of family life,” said Scott Halliday, a Family Law associate at Irwin Mitchell.
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