Equality Bill

The noble Lord is, as ever, completely right and I thank him for his remarks. Amendment 119A, as the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, pointed out, is a different issue. This amendment seeks to remove the prohibition which prevents civil partnerships from taking place in religious premises and from including religious language. This amendment, however, is not a workable solution to this issue. Amending the Civil Partnership Act in this way could lead to inconsistencies with civil marriage, have an unexplored impact on devolved Administrations, and lead to confusion on what is permitted and what is required. I will therefore be asking my noble friend to withdraw his amendment. However, as with many others who have spoken, I am not unsympathetic to his intentions. I will outline why we think there is a problem and what issues would need to be solved for us to proceed with this matter. The Government have been at the forefront of introducing measures to protect the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. The Equality Bill replicates the comprehensive protections from discrimination because of sexual orientation which we put in place in 2003 in the employment area and extended in 2007 to services and public functions. Civil partnerships provide lesbian and gay couples with legal recognition of their relationships, giving them vital protections and benefits. As has already been mentioned, 35,000 couples have formally registered their relationship since the Act came into force at the end of 2005. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, asked if research has been undertaken on how many people have added a blessing to this. I do not have those figures but the noble Lord’s point underlines the point I was making about the things we need to consider as we move forward in this area. Civil partnerships were originally designed to be broadly similar to civil marriage. Let me repeat what my noble and learned friend the Attorney-General said: ""Just as with civil marriage, these unions will be entirely secular and the restrictions on religious content and religious premises therefore mirror the position for civil marriage".—[Official Report, 12/5/2004; col. 139GC.]" That is one of the issues that would need to be resolved. My noble friend wants lesbian and gay couples to have the opportunity to enter into a civil partnership in a religious setting if they wish to do so and if the religion in question allows it. That is, at present, not permitted. Indeed, it is expressly prohibited in the provisions that my noble friend’s amendment seeks to delete. As is the case for civil marriage, which is regulated by the Marriage Act 1949, civil partnerships are entirely secular in nature. As such, they cannot take place in religious premises or contain any religious language. The secular nature of these civil unions clearly separates them from religious unions. It is open to churches and the religious community to arrange blessings for civil unions or not, according to their own tenets. My noble friend’s amendments would change the present position of parity between civil partnerships and civil marriages. We would find ourselves in the anomalous position of allowing, for example, prayers to be said at a secular venue in the course of forming a civil partnership but not when solemnising a civil marriage. One consequence would be that this would appear to discriminate against heterosexual couples who might want a religious element to be added to the proceedings for their civil union. We have to consider the practicalities of that situation. Would he require a now secular registrar to carry out religious services? Would members of the clergy be able to conduct a ceremony not in their place of worship? These are the kinds of issues that need to be teased out. As we have heard, some denominations, such as the Quakers, have been clear about their wish to carry out same-sex religious partnerships. However, different faiths have different views on these issues. Further, the legal position in relation to the solemnization of religious marriages differs between different faiths, and such matters are often closely entwined with doctrine and teachings. For instance, in some faiths it is the building that is approved for the solemnization of marriages, while for others, such as Quakers and Jews, there are greater freedoms about where to marry. Under the Marriage Act 1949, places of worship are currently registered only for the solemnization of marriage, and therefore we could end up with the situation where we have legislated for religious partnerships but there are no buildings where they can take place and no one who can perform such a ceremony. There are also, as ever, different arrangements for Scotland and Northern Ireland. These are not reasons for not looking seriously at the issue that my noble friend has raised, but I hope that they illustrate the complexities of moving forward. We fully accept the fundamental importance of this issue to many same-sex couples, and we recognise the strength of feeling that some people have about the need for change. We also recognise, though, that any change would bring into play some fundamental issues and would risk undermining the parity that has been carefully established between civil partnership and civil marriage. Any change can therefore be brought only after proper and careful consideration of these issues, which is why it is important that we listen, discuss and consider views on this important issue, particularly the views of those churches and organisations that want to conduct same-sex unions on a voluntary basis so that same-sex couples can have the opportunity to formalise their relationships in a religious setting. We want this dialogue to move forward and we want all those with an interest in this issue to have their say. We believe that this careful consideration will pay off in how we proceed together to the next stage of resolving this issue. I hope that my noble friend accepts the reasons behind the need to resist this amendment, and that he will support the Government’s commitment to look at this issue further. I call upon him to withdraw his amendment.