Living together but how?

by Amit Roy

AMONG Indians and Pakistanis and British Asians generally, cou­ples still tend to get married rather than live together – in what was once known as “living in sin”.

That old order changed once same-sex couples got the right to enter into “civil partnerships”.

But the Civil Partnership Act 2004 did not apply to heterosexual couples, which is why Rebecca Steinfeld, 37, and Charles Keidan, 41, who have been living together in London for many years and have two young daughters, have fought a long battle to change the law.

The supreme court ruled in their favour last week after their barrister, Karon Monaghan QC, said the cou­ple had “deep-rooted and genuine ideological objections to marriage” and were “not alone” in their views.

She said matrimony was “histori­cally heteronormative and patriar­chal” and the couple’s objections were “not frivolous”.

The Oxford Dictionary defines heteronormative as “denoting or re­lating to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation”.

Monaghan said: “These are impor­tant issues, no small matters, and they are serious for my clients be­cause they cannot marry conform­able with their conscience and that should weigh very heavily indeed.”

This may not sound very roman­tic, but the couple wanted to enter into a civil partnership.

To deny them that right was to breach their human rights, five su­preme court judges ruled unani­mously in a “landmark” judgement.

After their victory, Keidan, a magazine editor, said outside court: “There are 3.3 million cohabiting couples in this country, the fastest growing family type.

“Many want legal recognition and financial protection, but cannot have it because they are not married and because the choice of a civil partnership is not open to them. The law needs to catch up with the real­ity of family life in Britain in 2018.”

This is not a happy outcome for the prime minister Theresa May, who is the daughter of an Anglican priest and probably wedded to the Christian notion of marriage.

But after the supreme court rul­ing, it is heterosexual couples who, ironically, have to be put on an equal footing with gays and lesbians when it comes to marriage.