Heterosexual couple refused right to 'gay wedding'

A heterosexual couple have been refused permission to register for a civil partnership. Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle said they want to challenge "discriminatory" UK laws which restrict civil partnerships to same-sex couples.

They plan legal action after their application was denied at Islington Register Office, north London. A spokesman for Islington Council said the pair's request was refused because "the council must follow the law".

UK law only permits heterosexual couples to marry and only permits same-sex couples to form civil partnerships.



Couples in a civil partnership have the right to the same legal treatment across a range of matters as a married couple - including inheritance, pension, life assurance and maintenance rights.

However civil partnerships can only be conducted by registrars, not members of the clergy, and the partnership cannot legally be called a "marriage". Mr Freeman and Miss Doyle, both 25, from Islington, have been in a relationship for four years.

Mr Freeman said: "It would be lovely to formalise our relationship but we are completely turned off by the whole institution of marriage because it discriminates against gay people." He added: "We think gay people should be able to have a standard marriage and straight people should be able to have a civil partnership."