Equal Marriage and the Scottish Same-Sex Marriage Consultation

Today I am on leave from work and, although the day has been set aside for dissertation work, I have been doing something more important this morning...

Today, 9th December, is the final day to respond to the Scottish Same-Sex Marriage Consultation and although I have had the excellent form from the Equality Network in my kitchen for a while I've only just got around to sending my response and wanted to share information on how others can do this today and to also provide my accompanying message to my local MSPs.

I would ask you all to respond to the consultation however you see fit. Marriage is a hugely personal matter so I do not expect that all my friends and readers to agree with my perspective but it is worth saying that I support same-sex marriage as a matter of equality of rights. However as marriage is a state recognised relationship I think it is important that all in Scotland voice their opinion no matter what that might be.

The announcement about the consultation can be found here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2011/09/02114626

The Equality Network consultation response form is here:
http://www.equalmarriage.org.uk/consultation.php

The additional Equality Network form to email MSPs seems to be broken but you can email them via Write to Them - click on the link to "Write to all of your regional MSPs" in the Your Members of the Scottish Parliament column (which will show when you enter your postcode): http://www.writetothem.com/

And here is what I have written (based partly on the Equality Network suggested wording) to my own local MSPs:

Dear David McLetchie, Neil Findlay, Alison Johnstone, Margo MacDonald, Gavin Brown, Sarah Boyack and Kezia Dugdale,


I live in your constituency and strongly support marriage equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Scotland.  I also support opening up civil partnership to mixed-sex couples.  


I am a gay woman who has been in a happy civil partnership for over five years and feel very privileged to have found and been able to enter a state recognised partnership with the woman I love. I do not, however, feel that the civil partnership act fully recognises and respects the rights of non-heterosexuals.


LGBT people are the only group who are banned from marrying.  The introduction of civil partnership was a very important step forward, but this is not equality.  The law should be changed to make the same choices, marriage or civil partnership, available to couples regardless of their gender.


I am not religious so my personal preference would be for a system of the state only recognising civil partnerships that are open to both mixed-sex and same-sex couples, with religious ceremonies a separate non state-recognised process.


However the state currently recognises religious ceremonies and there are many same-sex couples who have strong faith and supportive communities around their faith and I think it is fundamentally unequal to exclude same-sex couples from engaging in a legally recognised ceremony in their own religious community that recognises their long, genuine and loving relationships in exactly the same way as heterosexual couples. How can it be fair, equal or dignified that gay persons of faith are treated differently by the state than heterosexual persons of faith?


Furthermore I think it is shocking that there is currently a requirement for transsexual people to divorce before a full gender recognition certificate can be issued. No sensible marriage system would require a loving relationship to be legally separate - a lengthy, costly and traumatic process - in order to give an individual in that relationship their personal rights and freedoms. I therefore also call upon you to support the ending of this peculiar and outdated aspect of the marriage and gender recognition law. I am not a transgendered person but I know several wonderful trans people whose lives have been hugely enriched by being able to live as the people and the gender that they are, not as the bodies they were born with dictate. In some cases this transition is something undertaken quite alone but for others the presence of a loving committed partner is hugely beneficial and to enforce divorce before a trans person can have their identity legally recognised is unkind and unfair. Changing this requirement would also mean that those trans people whose partners have not been as supportive and where there has been a breakdown of relationship cannot delay the recognition of that persons identity because of lengthy divorce processes. Individual human rights to identity and personhood, and state recognised relationship rights should never have been bound in this way.


As your constituent, I am asking you to regard all of your constituents as having the same rights to live, to love, and to be part of society on an equal basis and, as such, I am asking you to support marriage equality in Scotland.


Yours with respect,


Nicola.