10th Anniversary of Civil Partnerships

Sue Wilkinson has recorded an interview with WDR, Germany’s biggest public broadcaster, for a programme commemorating the 10^th anniversary of the introduction of civil partnerships for same-sex couples in the UK, under the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

In the interview, she talked about the ‘segregated system’ of marriage and civil partnership, and reflected on the legal case she and her wife, Celia Kitzinger, brought to the High Court in 2006, with the support of Liberty and Out!Rage (see http://www.equalmarriagerights.org).  Although the Court deemed Sue and Celia’s (legal Canadian) marriage a civil partnership in the UK, it was finally recognised as a marriage in England & Wales in March 2014, following the  passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.

Sue and Celia have also published a series of academic articles in this area, including the relationship between marriage and civil partnership (Kitzinger and Wilkinson, 2004) and the rhetorics surrounding marriage equality (Kitzinger and Wilkinson, 2004).

Sue’s interview will provide the framework for the programme, which will be broadcast on WDR on 21 December 2015 – the 10^th anniversary of the day the first civil partnerships took place in England & Wales.

Towards Marriage Equality: Reflections from Scholar-Activists’ – 18 February, 2015

Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson (Loughborough University) will be giving a talk about their ground-breaking case for legal recognition of their same-sex Canadian marriage in England - setting it in the context of the campaigns for marriage equality internationally.

Their reported case Wilkinson v Kitzinger [2007] FLR 195 considered the recognition of a same sex marriage and the impact of Articles 8,12, and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Whilst this case will be of interest to civil justice, conflict of laws, human rights and family law students, all students are very welcome to attend.
Details

Open to: All students

Date: Wednesday 18 February, 2015, 2:00–4:00pm

Venue: Peter Williams Lecture Theatre, University of Leicester

Celebrating Same-Sex Marriage Equality Report and Photos

On Friday 28th March 2014, the Sociology Department held an event to mark the commencement of provisions in the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 that enable same-sex couples to solemnise marriage in England and Wales and give legal recognition to same-sex marriages solemnised overseas.

The event was organised by Dr. Paul Johnson and Prof. Celia Kitzinger on behalf of the whole Department, as a platform on which to showcase its research on sexualities and marriage. Well over 100 people attended the event and heard short talks by Paul, Celia, Prof. Stevi Jackson (Centre for Women’s Studies) and Maddie Boden (LGBTQ officer at YUSU).

The event was opened by Dr. Jane Grenville, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University. As the photographs taken by Alison Taylor (Department of Sociology) show, the event was both interesting and fun!

All photographs are copyright of Alison Taylor