10 Years of Civil Partnerships




It’s been 10 years since the first civil partnerships in the UK.

Just for some perspective, 2005 was the year Shane Ward scored a Christmas number 1 with ‘That’s My Goal’.  It was also the year that Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles, MG Rover went into receivership and Pope John Paul II died. Sadly, it was also the year of the 7/7 bombings in London.

YouTube was founded in 2005, too.
(How did we ever find videos of cats on skateboards before then?) 



10 years is a long time, but it isn’t long enough to justify why it wasn’t done sooner in the UK. 

Same-sex couples had limited legal protection before 2005. The importance of the Civil Partnership Act was that it shored up the legal rights of individuals as a homosexual couple. It wasn't just about celebrating, about having a ring or having a party, it was about protecting and recognising the right to be together. In the event of a partner's death, a bereavement, an illness or when children were involved the Civil Partnership Act really came into its own. 

Remember that it would be another 8 and a half years before same-sex marriage was made legal.



  
Civil partnerships may now be declining, but their importance cannot be ignored. 

Change does come (often unmercifully slowly), but it does come. There’s hope for Australia and Northern Ireland in 2016, as there was for Ireland in 2015.  

There has to be better understanding and acceptance for the transgender community in 2016, too.

Children now go to same-sex weddings, they’re introduced to same-sex parents and they’re watching homosexual characters on the TV. 

Of course, there’s still so much (too much almost) to be done, but we’re moving in the right direction. Ten years is a long time, but in ten years you can make taboos acceptable. Think what is possible in 20 years. 

And it isn’t political correctness, it’s making a decision that 2016 and the years after it will no longer be dominated by douchebags with bigoted opinions. 



Congratulations to everyone celebrating a 10 year anniversary in 2015/16. And congratulations to everyone planning their civil partnership next year. 


On behalf of everyone at Pink Wedding Days, we’d like to wish you a very happy Christmas 2015 and a prosperous new year. 

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