LGBT group lobbies UK Parliament for heterosexual equality

Evening photograph of Big Ben and the houses of British Parliament

Will the British Parliament soon discussing an expansion of domestic partnership laws? (Photo Credit: CC BY/Maurice/Flickr)

Currently, domestic partnership laws in the U.K. apply only to homosexual couples, which doesn’t suit Stephanie Munro and Andrew O’Neill at all. According to Jezebel, the straight couple has drawn the support of the British LGBT organization OutRage!, which is currently campaigning the British government for heterosexual equality in domestic partnerships. According to spokesmen for the OutRage! campaign Equal Love, expanding the laws regarding such civil unions would be a boon to Britain’s homosexual community, as well.

Heterosexual equality cause inspires OutRage!

While Munro and O’Neill fully expect that their initial petition for domestic partnership status will be denied, they expect that their lawsuit – which would include three opposite-sex and four same-sex couples – will attract significant attention to the cause of heterosexual equality. It isn’t because Equal Love promotes a homophobic agenda. The contrary is true, said OutRage! Coordinator Peter Tatchell:

“We support (straight couples’ bids) for heterosexual equality. In a democratic society, everyone should be equal before the law. There should be no legal discrimination. The twin bans on gay civil marriages and on heterosexual civil partnerships are a form of sexual apartheid. There is one law for straight couples and another law for gay partners. Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Tatchell told the Wall Street Journal.

Why not marriage?

As Munro and O’Neill tell it, they reject the melding of religion and secular law that surrounds the marriage ritual. A domestic partnership, on the other hand, is absent such “historical baggage,” said O’Neill.

While many would argue that the type of discrimination Munro and O’Neill are facing is not on the same level as what gay couples often endure, the battle against the segregation surrounding domestic partnerships in the U.K. is more than worthwhile, said Tatchell. If parts of the U.S. can offer domestic partnerships regardless of gender, then the U.K. can, too. Equal Love’s drive for heterosexual equality is intended to eliminate sexual orientation from the equation it’s asking the British Parliament to solve.