Same Sex Marriage Consultation in Scotland

So we can have a civil partnership which gives us the same rights as someone who’s married? Wrong. There are still important differences between a civil partnership and a marriage and the Scottish Government in starting a consultation on the possibility of allowing same-sex marriage has let loose a predictable furore from the Scottish Roman Catholic church.

First, let’s look at the differences between civil partnerships and marriage. Well at first sight, the rights and responsibilities of civil partners are very similar to those of married couples vis a vis benefits, inheritance and immigration.

However, in Scotland a civil partnership registration may NOT take place in religious premises and may only be registered by civil registrars, not religious celebrant. That’s right, it’s forbidden even if the faith group would allow it. In England and Wales, the ban on civil partnerships taking place on religious premises was lifted last year (though the ceremony still has to taken by a civil registrar). So you can have your civil partnership in a church, temple, synagogue etc south of the border (as long as the religious group agree) but not in Scotland. However, you could not have a priest, rabbi or whatever to perform the ceremony.

The UK government currently has no plans to change the civil nature of civil partnerships. Scotland is thinking about going further than this, allowing faith groups, if they wish, to conduct marriages between gay couples just as they do with heterosexual couples.

The second difference between marriage and a civil partnership is, as the Scottish government consultation paper states, there may be a perception that civil partners do not have the same status and standing as married couples

Another important difference is for transgender people. Currently, transgender people must divorce before acquiring their final gender recognition certificate, even if their spouse wishes to stay married to them. If Scotland should move to introduce same-sex marriage, then there would be no need in law for them to divorce; the marriage could just continue. However, transgender people and their spouses would be still be able to divorce, if they wished to, using the interim gender recognition certificate as grounds for the divorce.

Nicola Sturgeon , the Health Minister of Scotland has launched a consultation into the issue of gay marriage and wants responses from the individuals and groups. The proposals would allow couples to have a religious ceremony to register their civil partnership, so long as the religious body and celebrant were content to do so. However, a same-sex marriage could still be completely civil if required. This suggested equalising of the marriage law between gays and straights along with the much more sensible law for transgender people makes this a no-brainer and Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Minister of Scotland, should be praised for launching the consultation and making clear that the SNP government’s own view is that marriage laws should be equalised between gays and straights, as long as no religious is forced to something they don’t believe in. What’s not to like?

Well, plenty, apparently, according to the leader of Scotland's Catholic community, Cardinal Keith O’Brien who has warned that moves by MSPs to legalise gay marriage will be "strenuously opposed" by the Church. However, Cardinal O'Brien suggested that supporters of gay marriage wanted to "rewrite human nature" as he appealed to MSPs to oppose the proposed reform.

"Any attempt to redefine marriage is a direct attack on a foundational building block of society and will be strenuously opposed." He also said that that the proposal would “shame” the country and “forfeit” the trust held by the religion’s followers in the SNP administration.

There was also a sharply worded statement issued by the Bishops' Conference of Scotlan , which suggested that the Scottish Government's consultation was "an exercise for justifying the campaign demands" of the "vociferous" gay rights lobby.

Philip Tartaglia, Bishop of Paisley, repeated that a government that legalised gay marriage did not “deserve” the support of the Catholic community.

Willie Rennie, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, urged the First Minister to ignore suggestions from the church that 800,000 Catholics will boycott the Nationalists in future elections if the proposal becomes law.

And Green MSP Patrick Harvie attacked the Catholic Church's stance on gay rights and highlighted a Scottish Social Attitudes survey which revealed 60 per cent believe same-sex couples should have the right to marry.

"It's absurd to suggest that one marriage can undermine other marriages," he said.

"Just as non-Catholics respect Catholic marriages, so it's time for the Cardinal to start respecting the right of every adult to love who they please.

"The Cardinal should also remember that he doesn't speak for all people of faith, or even all Christians.

"There are many faith groups who want to conduct same-sex marriages for their members, and the Catholic Church seems determined to try and suppress their freedom to do so."

In an article for a Sunday newspaper, Cardinal O’Brien denounced the SNP for being “disingenuous” and for its “weasel words” in claiming that churches would not be obliged to solemnise such weddings.

Well I’ve read the consultation document (as can you at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/05153328/0) and I don’t find ‘weasel words’, I just find a document that falls over itself to let religious groups off the hook in escaping twenty-first century equality legislation. Not that I’m complaining. I think we should applaud the Scottish government and Nicola Sturgeon for trying to further the cause of LGBT equality and Get Better Terms for all people in Scotland. Maybe the Cardinal doesn’t want his church to be held up to be homophobic when it refuses to allow same-sex marriage in its organisation while the groovier Christian sects like the Society of Friends do. This might not go down too well with the more liberal wing of the Catholic church. Though what anyone in the UK is doing being an RC is beyond me. They have all the benefits living in a secular society and wouldn’t want to live in a world run by their church, but fancy popping in for a bit of spiritual sustenance on a Sunday, while conveniently ignoring the actual beliefs held by the organisation they belong to. And identifying themselves as Catholic only adds to the ‘numbers of Catholics’ in the UK and so gives credence to Cardinal O’Brien who can then say that by opposing gay marriage, they are representing nearly one million people in Scotland.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, taking a deep breath and realising that we fortunately live in a society that has religious toleration and so each to his or her own. However, I think that the Scottish government proposals are the dog’s bollocks and they should be applauded.

So respond to the consultation as positively as you can. Don’t let the vocal minority of bigots get their way.