Straight Couples in the UK Win Right to Say 'Fuck No' to Getting Married
Frida Garza
Filed to:not getting married
Civil partnerships are now open to hetero couples in the UK, after two people who do not want to get fucking married, no sir, doggedly pursued their case to the highest court in the country.
Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan don't believe in the institution of marriage and you cannot make them, goddammit—they've been suing for the right to enter a civil partnership, an option previously offered only to same-sex couples, for almost four years and they have tired at nothing to get it. The UK's Supreme Court has finally agreed with them and unanimously voted in their favor, finding that 2004's Civil Partnership Act to be at odds with the European Convention on Human Rights. They had previously lost their case last year.
Now, they'll have the legal right to become civil partners, rather than getting married to cement their relationship and signal to their friends and families that this is the real deal! No marriage, for everyone!
Steinfeld and Keidan, according to the Guardian, find marriage patriarchal and sexist. In the time they have been pressuring their government for change, they've had two kids and have given them one hybrid last name—Keinfeld. Nothing says "gender equity" like blending your names together.
The two released a statement:
"We have fought this battle not only on our own behalf but for 3.3 million unmarried couples in England and Wales. Many want legal recognition and financial protection, but cannot have it because they're 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."
The law has indeed caught up—thankfully! Congratulations to the Keinfelds—may your days be long and full of joy and replete with tax benefits.
Being Married in America Today Seems to Mean Fearing It Ending
Judith Light's Marriage Advice Seems Right to Me
Professor Says Women Are Ruining Their Chances of Getting Married By Being So Sexually Cheap