Strategizing for the future through the Civil Partnership Act

Journal of Law and Society

Volumn 33, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 244-276

  Glennon, Lisa ^a  

^a QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY BELFAST   (United Kingdom)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 33646742238     PISSN: 0263323X     EISSN: 14676478     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6478.2006.00357.x     Document Type: Article

References (228)

1. Hereafter the Act. The Bill received Royal Assent on 18 November 2004 and the Act came into force on 5 December 2005.
2. Fitzpatrick v. Sterling Housing Association [2000] 2 FLR 27, and Ghaidan v. Godin-Mendoza [2004] UKHL 30.
3. By 31 January 2006, 3,648 civil partnerships had been registered in England and Wales: General Register Office Press Release, 22 February 2006, at 〈http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/news/Civil_partnership_numbers. asp〉. By the time of writing official statistics for registrations in Northern Ireland had not yet been published.
4. See N. Barker, 'For Better or Worse? The Civil Partnerships Bill [HL] 2004' (2004) 26 J. of Social Welfare and Family Law 313-24, at 315.
5. DTI, Women and Equality Unit, Civil Partnership: A Framework for the Legal Recognition of Same-sex Couples (2003) para. 2.6.
6. See, for example, R. Bailey-Harris, 'Law and the Unmarried Couple - Oppression or Liberation?' ( 1996) 8(2) Child and Family Law Q. 137-47:
7. J. Mee, The Property Rights of Cohabitees (1999);
8. The Law Society, Cohabitation: The Case for Clear Law (2002).
9. See DTI, Cohabitation: The Case for Clear Law (2002). op. cit., n. 5, para. 1.5.
10. These include a duty to provide reasonable maintenance for civil partners and children of the family; assessment in the same way as spouses for child support; joint treatment for income-related benefits and state pensions; recognition for immigration purposes; arrangements for property division on dissolution of the partnership; right to register the death of a partner; treatment in the same way as spouses for all tax purposes, and inheritance, intestacy, and compensation rights.
11. Northern Ireland Office of Law Reform, Civil Partnership: A Legal Status for Committed Same-Sex Couples in Northern Ireland (2003).
12. L. Fox-Harding, Family, State and Social Policy (1996) 187, 191-5.
13. id.
14. The number of marriages in the United Kingdom has fallen from around 480,300 in 1972 to just over 286,000 in 2001 (Social Trends No. 36 (2006) Figure 2.9). While there has been a slight increase in the number of marriages in recent years (in 2003 there were 308,600 marriages) it is too early to predict whether this trend will continue (id., p. 25). The percentage of unmarried women under the age of 60 cohabiting in Great Britain rose from 13 per cent in 1986 to 25 per cent in 2004. A similar pattern can be seen in relation to men (id., p. 27). Further, there has been a rise in the proportion of births occurring outside marriage in the United Kingdom from 12 per cent of all births in 1980 to 42 per cent in 2004 (id., Table 2.19).
15. See Home Office, Supporting Families: A Consultation Document (1998) paras. 4.7-4.8.
16. id. See, also, C. Stychin, Governing Sexuality: The Changing Politics of Citizenship and Law Reform (2003) ch. 2.
17. A. Barlow, 'Regulation of Cohabitation, Changing Family Policies and Social Attitudes: A Discussion of Britain Within Europe' (2004) 26 Law & Policy 57, at 60.
18. See, also, A. Barlow and G. James, 'Regulating Marriage and Cohabitation in 21st Century Britain' (2004) 67 Modern Law Rev. 143-76.
19. See The Law Society, Response to the Civil Partnerships Consultation Paper (2003), at 〈http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/influencinglaw/ policyinresponse/view=article.law?DOCUMENTID=160163〉.
20. The Department of Constitutional Affaire (DCA) is leading a cross-government working group to consider how 'to dispel the myths around common-law marriage': DTI, Women and Equality Unit, Responses to Civil Partnership: A Framework for the Legal Recognition of Same-sex Couples (2003) paras. 3.5-3.6. The DCA has funded two voluntary sector partners (Advice Services Alliance and One Plus One) to manage the 'Living Together' campaign, launched in July 2004, to make cohabitants more aware of their legal status.
21. Fox-Harding, Responses to Civil Partnership: A Framework for the Legal Recognition of Same-sex Couples, op. cit., n. 10.
22. A. Barlow et al., 'Just a Piece of Paper? Marriage and Cohabitation in Britain' in British Social Attitudes: The 18th Report - Public Policy and Social Ties, eds. A. Park et al. (2001).
23. percent of those surveyed believed that cohabitation overtime gave rise to common-law marriage, carrying the same legal consequences as marriage. See, also, A. Barlow et al., Cohabitation, Marriage and the Law (2005).
24. Barlow, Cohabitation, Marriage and the Law, op. cit., n. 15, p. 75.
25. For example, legislation in the Netherlands and Belgium has extended marriage to same-sex couples.
26. Registered partnership legislation was first introduced in Denmark in 1989 and was followed by Norway (1993), Sweden (1995). Iceland (1996), the Netherlands (1998), France (1999), Belgium (2000), Germany (2000). Switzerland (2001), and Finland (2002).
27. See Barlow, Cohabitation, Marriage and the Law, op. cit., n. 2.
28. R. Brubaker, Ethnicity without Groups (2004) 12.
29. id., p. 11.
30. R. Pierik, 'Conceptualizing cultural groups and cultural difference: The social mechanism approach" (2004) 4 Ethnicities 523, at 525.
31. P. Ettlebrick, 'Since When Is Marriage a Path to Liberation' in Lesbian and Gay Marriage: Private Commitments, Public Ceremonies, ed. S. Sherman (1992) 21.
32. Law Commission for England and Wales, Ninth Programme of Law Reform (2005) paras. 3.3-3.8.
33. This project, which commenced in July 2005, will last for two years. The Commission's previous attempts to look at the property rights of homesharers, after almost a decade's deliberation, did not produce any recommendations (Law Commission for England and Wales, Sharing Homes: A Discussion Paper (2002)).
34. The current project has a narrower remit, looking at couples in marital-like relationships only, but a broader scope, focusing on the financial hardship suffered by cohabitants or their children on the termination of their relationship either by separation or death (para. 3.6).
35. Further, as Lahey observes, the inclusion of same-sex couples within a quasi-spousal legal category may carry economic disadvantages for some. Gays and lesbians will lose their categorization as individual legal subjects and will instead inherit 'some of the larger responsibilities associated with relationship recognition' (K. Lahey, Are We Persons Yet?: Law and Sexuality in Canada (1999) 243-53).
36. Thus, the incidents of relationship recognition may not be positive for all as they will work in a complex and contingent way across class, gender, cultural, and wealth-based variants thus keeping alive the need for a debate on the use of relational concepts in the assessment of need and the provision of societal resources (see, also, Barker, Are We Persons Yet?: Law and Sexuality in Canada, op. cit., n. 4, p. 319).
37. It is not the purpose of this article to lament the government's option of civil registration as opposed to marriage. Indeed, as LaViolette notes, registered partnerships can be an 'acceptable compromise when viewed as a political strategy' (N. LaViolette, 'Waiting in a New Line at City Hall: Registered Partnerships as an Option for Relationship Recognition Reform in Canada" (2002) 19 Can. J. of Family Law 115, at 142) and can act as a precursor to the legitimation of same-sex marriage.
38. (See, also, K. Waaldijk, 'Civil Developments: Patterns of Reform in the Legal Position of Same-Sex Partners in Europe' (2000) 17 Can. J. of Family Law 62.)
39. T. Stoddard, 'Why Gay People Should Seek the Right to Marry' in Lesbian and Gay Marriage: Private Commitments, Public Ceremonies, ed. S. Sherman (1992) 14.
40. id., p. 17.
41. id., p. 18.
42. See, also, H. Dalton, 'Reflections on the Lesbian and Gay Marriage Debate' 1 [1991] Law & Sexuality 1-8.
43. Stoddard, id., p. 18.
44. id., p. 19.
45. Ettlebrick, Law & Sexuality, op. cit., n. 27, p. 21.
46. id., p. 23.
47. N. Fraser, 'Social Justice in the Age of Identity Politics: Redistribution, Recognition, and Participation" in Redistribution or Recognition? A Political-Philosophical Exchange, eds. N. Fraser and A. Honneth (2003) 12.
48. N. Fraser, 'Rethinking Recognition' (2000) 3 New Left Rev. 107, at 112.
49. id.
50. Fraser, New Left Rev., op. cit., n. 38, p. 75.
51. R. Kitchin and K. Lysaght, 'Heterosexism and the geographies of everyday life in Belfast, Northern Ireland' (2003) 35 Environment and Planning 489, at 490-1.
52. See Lahey, Environment and Planning, op. cit., n. 29, p. 262.
53. Fraser, Environment and Planning, op. cit., n. 38, p. 74.
54. id., p. 75.
55. id., p. 76.
56. id., p. 75.
57. id., p. 77.
58. Barker, Environment and Planning, op. cit., n. 4, p. 319.
59. id., pp. 320-1.
60. id.
61. id.
62. See N. Hunter, 'Marriage, Law, and Gender: A Feminist Inquiry' 1 [1991] Law & Sexuality 9-30.
63. S. Benhabib, The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era (2002) 68.
64. Fraser, The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era, op. cit., n. 38, p. 18.
65. id., p. 24. While Fraser argues that sexuality struggles require a remedy which challenges 'misrecognition', that is not to say that gays and lesbians are not subject to maldistribution nor to suggest that recognition claims will not have redistributive consequences. Indeed, Fraser's model interprets the concept of justice as incorporating aspects of recognition and redistribution claims. As Nie Craith notes: [c]oncepts of recognition and justice are set in a larger social framework. Injustice is not merely defined as misrecognition, but concerns itself with economic structures, property regimes, and labour markets.
66. M. Nie Craith, Plural Identities - Singular Narratives: The Case of Northern Ireland (2002) at 199.
67. Fraser, Plural Identities - Singular Narratives: The Case of Northern Ireland, op. cit., n. 38, p. 12.
68. See, also, Benhabib, Plural Identities - Singular Narratives: The Case of Northern Ireland, op. cit., n. 54, pp. 69-70.
69. A. Honneth, The Struggle for Recognition: The Moral Grammar of Social Conflicts (1996). See Benhabib, id., p. 51.
70. C. Taylor, Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition (1992); Benhabib, id.
71. Benhabib, id., p. 51.
72. id., p. 52.
73. id.
74. Fraser, Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition, op. cit., n. 38, pp. 28-9.
75. id., p. 29.
76. Fraser, Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition, op. cit., n. 39, p. 112.
77. id., p. 113.
78. id., p. 115.
79. Fraser, Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition, op. cit., n. 38, p. 79. Emphasis in original.
80. Although Fraser rejects anything less than legalizing same-sex marriage, the proposed civil partnership scheme does form part of the strategic course of partnership assimilation and may be the only prospect of immediate development.
81. Fraser, Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition, op. cit., n. 38, p. 77.
82. N. Lacey, Unspeakable Subjects, Feminist Essays in Legal and Social Theory (1998) 39.
83. id.
84. See C. Stychin, A Nation by Rights: National Cultures, Sexual Identity Politics, and the Discourse of Rights (1998) 17.
85. See Ettlebrick, A Nation by Rights: National Cultures, Sexual Identity Politics, and the Discourse of Rights, op. cit., n. 27.
86. id., p. 22.
87. S. Sherman (ed.), Lesbian and Gay Marriage: Private Commitments, Public Ceremonies (1992) at back cover.
88. See J. Lewis, 'Marriage and cohabitation and the nature of commitment' (1999) 11 Child and Family Law Q. 355
89. and Fox-Harding, Child and Family Law Q, op. cit., n. 10, pp. 101-5.
90. Barker, Child and Family Law Q, op. cit., n. 4, p. 319.
91. L. Glennon, 'Targeting the Exclusionary Impact of Family Law' in Family Law and Family Values, ed. M. Maclean (2005) 175.
92. See, for example, the amendment to the Civil Partnerships Bill, passed at Report Stage in the House of Lords, which sought to extend the Bill to allow close relatives to form a civil partnership. For a discussion of this see L. Glennon, 'Displacing the conjugal family in legal policy - a progressive move?' (2005) 17 Child and Family Law Q. 141.
93. id., p. 163.
94. For a discussion of the symbolic weight of the law, see N. Bamforth, Sexuality, Morals and Justice: A Theory of Lesbian and Gay Rights Law (1997) 283-9.
95. In the words of one claimant in Halpern v. Attorney General of Canada, 2003 65 O.R. (3rd) 161 (C.A.) para. 9, 'if we had the freedom to marry, society would grow up to understand our commitment and love for each other'.
96. id., para. 107.
97. Stychin, Sexuality, Morals and Justice: A Theory of Lesbian and Gay Rights Law, op. cit., n. 14, pp. 35-6, 140.
98. Fraser, Sexuality, Morals and Justice: A Theory of Lesbian and Gay Rights Law, op. cit., n. 38, p. 79.
99. Benhabib, Sexuality, Morals and Justice: A Theory of Lesbian and Gay Rights Law, op. cit., n. 54. p. 70.
100. Stychin, Sexuality, Morals and Justice: A Theory of Lesbian and Gay Rights Law, op. cit., n. 73, p. 75.
101. id., pp. 76 and 77.
102. For analysis of the Northern Ireland conflict see J. Whyte, Interpreting Northern Ireland (1990);
103. J. McGarry and B. O'Leary, Explaining Northern Ireland: Broken Images (1995).
104. The Good Friday/Belfast Agreement (Agreement Reached in the Multi-Party Negotiations (1998; Cm. 3883)) forms the basis of the political settlement in Northern Ireland and has been given legal effect by the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The devolved administration took legislative and executive authority on matters which had been transferred to their responsibility, Northern Ireland Act 1998, ss. 4-15. In October 2002, however, devolution was suspended and Parliament at Westminster reassumed responsibility and control of the Northern Ireland Departments.
105. M. Nie Craith, Culture and Identity Politics in Northern Ireland (2003) 189.
106. id., p. 5.
107. Section 69(7) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and paragraph 4 of the Human Rights section of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement.
108. CAJ preliminary comments on 'Making a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland' - a consultation by the NI Human Rights Commission, September 2001, at 〈http://www.caj.org.uk/keydocuments.html〉.
109. id.
110. Smith notes that those favouring an expansive view of the Bill of Rights project include NGOs, community groups, trade unions, political parties such as the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Féin, and the Alliance Party. By contrast, those who prefer a narrower approach tend 'to be associated to unionist politics and culture including the Democratic Unionist Party, the Ulster Unionist Party, the Cadogan Group, faith groups and churches' (A. Smith. 'The drafting process of a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland' [2004] Public Law 529).
111. See S. Livingstone, 'The Need for a Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland' (2001) 52 Northern Ireland Legal Q. 269, at 279.
112. J. Nagel, 'Masculinity and nationalism: gender and sexuality in the making of nations' (1998) 21 Ethnic and Racial Studies 242, at 254.
113. See, also, A. McClintock, Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Context (1995).
114. J. Nagel, American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence of Identity and Culture (1996) 193.
115. Nagel, American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence of Identity and Culture, op. cit., n. 97, p. 254.
116. As McGarry and O'Leary point out, unionism is a form of British nationalism (R. Ward, '"It's not just Tea and Buns": Women and Pro-Union Politics in Northern Ireland' (2004) 6 Brit. J. of Politics and International Relations 494, at 502).
117. Seeking to defend the nation state and preserve the status quo, it is hostile to change and thus envisages a patriarchal society with a 'gendered understanding of appropriate roles' (id., p. 504. See, also, pp. 502-3; C. Coulter, 'Feminism and nationalism in Ireland' in Rethinking Northern Ireland - Culture, Ideology and Colonialism, ed. D. Miller (1998) 164).
118. C. Bell, C. Campbell, and F. Ni Aoláin, 'Justice Discourses in Transition' (2004) 13 Social and Legal Studies 305, at 322.
119. Ward, Social and Legal Studies, op. cit., n. 100, p. 503.
120. B. Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism (1983).
121. See S. Edge, 'Representing gender and national identity' in Miller, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, op. cit., n. 100, pp. 214-15.
122. E. Walshe, 'Sexing the shamrock' (1996) 8 Crit. Survey 159, at 161.
123. See R. Kitchin and K. Lysaght, 'Sexual Citizenship in Belfast, Northern Ireland" (2004) 11 Gender, Place and Culture 83, at 90.
124. Kitchin and Lysaght, id.
125. id., p. 99.
126. Coulter, Gender, Place and Culture, op. cit., n. 100, p. 174.
127. E. Smyth, 'The cultural politics of sexuality and reproduction in Northern Ireland' (2006) Sociology (forthcoming), quoted with the kind permission of the author.
128. Kitchin and Lysaght, Sociology, op. cit., n. 104, pp. 85-6.
129. Amended by the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 1945.
130. R. v. Bourne (1939) 1 K.B. 687.
131. Fegan and Rebouche note that 'delving deeper into what is claimed as a "vast majority"' of anti-choice opinion may reveal an undercurrent of support for other views': E. Fegan and R. Rebouche, 'Northern Ireland's Abortion Law: The Morality of Silence and the Censure of Agency' (2003) 11 Feminist Legal Studies 221. at 232-3.
132. The four main political parties in the North are the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the more moderate Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and the republican party, Sinn Féin.
133. In June 2000 a member of the DUP proposed a motion in the NI Assembly which sought to prohibit any future motions to extend the 1967 Act to Northern Ireland. An amendment, tabled by the Women's Coalition, to have the issue referred to the Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee was defeated and the motion was passed by 47 votes to 17. By contrast, the secular loyalist party, the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) has taken a progressive stance on many social issues and, indeed, was the only unionist party to support the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland: see C. Mitchell and J.R. Tilley, 'The Moral Minority: Evangelical Protestants in Northern Ireland and Their Political Behaviour' (2004) 52 Political Studies 585, at 599.
134. Smyth, Political Studies, op. cit., n. 108.
135. id.
136. id.
137. Fegan and Rebouche, Political Studies, op. cit., n. 112, p. 244.
138. id.
139. id.
140. S. Livingstone and R. Murray, Evaluating the Effectiveness of National Human Rights Institutions: The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission with Comparisons from South Africa (2005).
141. C. Bell and J. Keenan, 'Human Rights Nongovernmental Organizations and the Problems of Transition' (2004) 26 Human Rights Q. 330.
142. id., p. 365.
143. Kitchin and Lysaght, Human Rights Q, op. cit., n. 42, p. 493.
144. The DUP is the anti-Agreement Unionist party led by Reverend Ian Paisley, also leader of the evangelical Free Presbyterian Church. After the 2003 Assembly elections, the DUP surpassed the UUP as the largest party in the province gaining 30 seats (up from 22).
145. Homosexual activity was eventually decriminalized in Northern Ireland by the passing of the Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 which followed the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in Dudgeon v. United Kingdom (1981) 4 EHRR 149 which held that the prohibition on male homosexual activity breached Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
146. K. Conrad, 'Women Troubles, Queer Troubles: Gender, Sexuality, and the Politics of Selfhood in the Construction of the Northern Irish State' in Reclaiming Gender: Transgressive Identities in Modern Ireland, eds M. Cohen and N.J. Curtin (1999) 55.
147. See, also, Kitchin and Lysaght, Reclaiming Gender: Transgressive Identities in Modern Ireland, op. cit., n. 42, p. 493.
148. Kitchin and Lysaght, id.
149. Institute for Conflict Research, N. Jarman and A. Tennant, An Acceptable Prejudice? Homophobic Violence and Harassment in Northern Ireland (2003) 12.
150. Kitchin and Lysaght, An Acceptable Prejudice? Homophobic Violence and Harassment in Northern Ireland, op. cit., n. 42, p. 503.
151. The Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey reported in 2003 that in response to a question of classification on sexual orientation, 1 per cent of respondents identified themselves as gay or lesbian; 97 per cent identified themselves as heterosexual or straight; 0 per cent as bisexual, and approximately 2 per cent did not answer the question. See 〈http://www.ark. ac.uk/nilt/〉.
152. Nie Craith, An Acceptable Prejudice? Homophobic Violence and Harassment in Northern Ireland, op. cit., n. 56, p. 17. Noting the Anglo-Irish Agreement talked about accommodating the 'rights and identities of the two traditions', Nie Craith observes that the Good Friday Agreement also uses Britishness and Irishness as legitimate references of identity for people in Northern Ireland (p. 19).
153. Conrad, An Acceptable Prejudice? Homophobic Violence and Harassment in Northern Ireland, op. cit., n. 127, pp. 54-5
154. quoting R. Sales, Women Divided: Gender, Religion, and Politics in Northern Ireland (1997) 202.
155. Nie Craith, Women Divided: Gender, Religion, and Politics in Northern Ireland, op. cit., n. 56, p. 199.
156. id.
157. id., p. 200.
158. id., p 20.
159. While the strategic use of identity markers may appear to contradict Fraser's politics of recognition which attempts to go beyond the collective identity paradigm, the two can be reconciled. Fraser's status model of recognition means that remedies for misrecognition are not viewed as a question of identity per se, but of 'establishing the misrecognized party as a full member of society, capable of participating on a par with the rest': Fraser, op. cit., n. 39, p. 113. Thus the remedy, while one of recognition, is about 'overcoming subordination' and not 'valorizing group identity' (p. 114) which allows one to use references of identity within recognition claims in non-reifying terms. Under this model, both assimilationist and deconstructionist agendas can remedy misrecognition without being seen to represent the universal characterization of those within the maligned group.
160. W. Rowe and V. Schelling, Memory and Modernity: popular culture in Latin America (1991) 231
161. quoted in J. Pieterse, 'Globalisation as Hybridization' in Global Modernities, eds. M. Featherstone et al. (1995) 49.
162. Nie Craith, Global Modernities, op. cit., n. 56, p. 197.
163. id., p. 199.
164. Fraser, Global Modernities, op. cit., n. 38, pp. 80-1.
165. V. Quinn, 'On the Borders of Allegiance: Identity Politics in Ulster' in De-Centring Sexualities: Politics and representations beyond the metropolis, eds. R. Phillips et al. (2000) 272.
166. Nie Craith, De-centring Sexualities: Politics and Representations beyond the Metropolis, op. cit., n. 56, p. 196.
167. M. Beirne, 'Social and Economic Rights as Agents for Change' in Human Rights in the Community: Rights as Agents for Change, ed. C. Harvey (2005) 50.
168. Bell et al., Human Rights in the Community: Rights as Agents for Change, op. cit., n. 101, p. 322; Beirne, id., pp. 50-51.
169. Ian Flanagan was found murdered in September 2002 and Aaron McCauley in December 2002.
170. Jarman and Tennant, Human Rights in the Community: Rights as Agents for Change, op. cit., n. 129, pp. 21-30. The Criminal Justice (No. 2) (NI) Order 2004 now imposes a statutory requirement on judges to treat racial and religious aggravation and hatred of sexual orientation or disability as an aggravating factor when sentencing.
171. id., p. 10.
172. See, also, Kitchen and Lysaght, Human Rights in the Community: Rights as Agents for Change, op. cit., n. 42.
173. Kitchin and Lysaght, id., p. 494.
174. One should not underestimate the opportunity presented by the Civil Partnership Act to make legislative progress on same-sex partnerships in Northern Ireland at a time when the local Assembly is suspended, thus making less complicated the absorption of Northern Ireland provisions within a United Kingdom-wide strategy. Of course, if the Assembly is restored, attempts may be made to revisit issues arising from the Act which are within its legislative competence. However, the withdrawal of the right to register a same-sex partnership is a different conversation from the question of whether to introduce it in the first place and thus the inclusion of Northern Ireland within the Westminster legislation is particularly significant, a point which 1 do not think was lost on those vehemently opposed to this strategy.
175. The second reading of the Bill was due to take place on 16 September 2004 but was rescheduled after Ian Paisley, leader of the DUP, asked the Prime Minister to delay the vote because all DUP MPs would be involved in talks aimed at restoring the power-sharing Assembly (H. McDonald, 'Blair delays marriage bill to give Paisley party chance to vote' Guardian, 19 September 2004).
176. Responses to the OLR Consultation Paper revealed that only 14 per cent of respondents supported the proposal to extend the Bill to Northern Ireland. However, there were only 462 responses to the consultation and the government revealed that it subsequently received 400 letters of support for the Bill from Northern Ireland (425 H.C. Debs. col. 176 (12 October 2004)). In addition, the majority of organizations in Northern Ireland that responded to the consultation, such as the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, and the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, supported the Bill.
177. H.C. Standing Committee D, col. 218 (19 October 2004).
178. id., col. 408.
179. H.C. Standing Committee D, col. 213 (19 October 2004).
180. Lady Herman, a pro-Agreement UUP MP, abstained, a fact highlighted in a campaign document published by DUP candidate, Peter Weir, in the run-up to the recent election: 〈http://www.dup.org.uk/pdf/DUPWeirCanvass.pdf〉.
181. The Women's Coalition, the Alliance party, the Green party, and the Progressive Unionist party also support civil partnerships.
182. See 'A Sinn Féin Response to "Making a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland" - the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission consultation document' (December 2001).
183. Smyth, A Sinn Féin Response to "Making a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland" - The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Consultation Document, op. cit., n. 108.
184. NIHRC, Making a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland - A Consultation by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (2001) 60.
185. Fegan and Rebouche, Making a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland - A Consultation by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, op. cit., n. 112, p. 222.
186. id., p. 223.
187. id., p. 245.
188. id., p. 231.
189. G. McKeever and F. Ni Aoláin, 'Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Enforcing Socio-Economic Rights in Northern Ireland' (2004) 2 European Human Rights Law Rev. 158. at 166.
190. id., pp. 167-71.
191. id., pp. 159-60.
192. Livingstone and Murray, European Human Rights Law Rev., op. cit., n. 121.
193. Mitchell and Tilley, European Human Rights Law Rev., op. cit., n. 114, p. 599.
194. id.
195. id., p. 597.
196. id., p. 598.
197. With one abstention.
198. Mitchell and Tilley. European Human Rights Law Rev., op. cit. n. 114, p. 599.
199. id.
200. Indeed, a DUP councillor recently stated that hurricane Katrina was sent by God to punish the New Orleans gay community for holding a gay pride festival as a warning to nations 'where such wickedness is increasingly promoted and practised' (A. Chrisafis 'Katrina Sent by God to Punish New Orleans Gays' Guardian, 19 November 2005 〈http://www.guardian.co.uk/gayrights/story/0, 1646338,00.html〉).
201. A. Chrisafis, 'DUP hits at Trimble adviser's gay marriage' Guardian, 1 February 2005. Indeed, the DUP recently suspended one of its members following allegations that he engaged in homosexual activity.
202. Ulster peer Lord Maginnis, former Ulster Unionist Party MP, spoke against the Civil Partnerships Bill in the House of Lords, stating that it had been introduced due to the efforts of a 'vocal minority in society' who 'want to indulge in a relationship which most likely involves unnatural sexual practices' (662 H.L. Debs., cols. 1370-1 (24 June 2004)).
203. The DUP was the only party not to send a representative.
204. B. McDaid and C. Weir, 'Query over why DUP not present at gay rights meeting' Belfast Telegraph, 4 May 2005.
205. For an assessment of the potential impact of the equality discourse on the position of gays and lesbians, see M.A. Livingston, 'Out of the "Troubles" and into Rights: Protection for Gays, Lesbians, and Bisexuals in Northern Ireland through Equality Legislation in the Belfast Agreement' (2004) 27 Fordham International Law J. 1207.
206. Kitchin and Lysaght, Fordham International Law J., op. cit., n. 104, p. 94.
207. id.
208. B. Dickson, 'New Human Rights Protections in Northern Ireland' (1999) 3 European Law Rev, 3.
209. Section 75 involves mainstreaming equality, in other words, to infuse the process of decision-making with principles of equality as opposed to relying on reactive anti-discrimination legislation. Although it is non-justiciable in that individuals cannot take legal action for non-compliance, Dickson notes its importance in '[concentrating] the mind': B. Dickson, 'Protection of Human Rights - Lessons from Northern Ireland' (2000) 3 European Human Rights Law Rev. 213, at 223.
210. See Schedule 9, paras. 4(2)(a)-(b); 5; and 9(2), Northern Ireland Act 1998.
211. E. Breitenbach, Researching Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in Northern Ireland (2004) 2.
212. However, while s. 75 may carry the potential for the development of policies which are sensitive to the needs of gays and lesbians, the lack of information on sexual orientation may nullify its immediate effect. See Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Report on the Implementation of the Section 75 Statutory Duties: 1 April 2002-31 March 2003 (2004) para. 5.1.33. 'Ona positive note, however, formalizing the need for public authorities to give 'due regard' to sexual orientation when developing policy has, by itself, had a positive impact in raising the profile of these issues, allowing them to become more visible and initiating a discussion as to why they are not.
213. Beirne, Report on the Implementation of the Section 75 Statutory Duties: 1 April 2002-31 March 2003, op. cit., n. 144, p. 52.
214. id.
215. S. McKay, 'More right than most to walk Queen's highway' Irish News, 19 July 2005.
216. Dr. A. McDonnell, SDLP Press Release, 28 June 2005.
217. Kitchin and Lysaght, SDLP Press Release, op. cit., n. 104, p. 99.
218. id., p. 95.
219. Bell et al., SDLP Press Release, op. cit., n. 101, p. 322.
220. See Kitchin and Lysaght, SDLP Press Release, op. cit., n. 104, p. 84.
221. Smyth, SDLP Press Release, op. cit., n. 108.
222. Beirne, SDLP Press Release, op. cit., n. 144, p. 51.
223. McKeever and Ni Aoláin, SDLP Press Release, op. cit., n. 165, p. 170.
224. Beirne, SDLP Press Release, op. cit., n. 144, p. 46.
225. id.
226. Nic Craith, SDLP Press Release, op. cit., n. 91, p. 5.
227. Conrad, SDLP Press Release, op. cit., n. 127, p. 55.
228. Smyth, SDLP Press Release, op. cit., n. 108.