Most same-sex weddings in England and Wales involve couples already in civil partnerships, research from Oxford University has found.
In the first half of 2015, 5,300 couples converted their civil partnership to a marriage, twice the number of same-sex couples who were marrying without first having been in a civil partnership.
The research by John Haskey of Oxford’s department of social policy and intervention found one in eight same-sex couples in civil partnerships have converted their relationship status to a marriage since the legislation allowed the change from December 2014.
The study, which was published in the journal Family Law, indicated there was no rush for couples to marry after legislation was introduced, unlike the numbers seen after civil partnerships were introduced in 2005.
In the following year almost 15,000 couples formed civil partnerships – many of them long-term couples who were previously unable to form legal partnerships – with numbers declining to around 6,000 each year thereafter.
Just 360 couples opted for same-sex marriages in England and Wales in the first full month after it became legal, April 2014, though it was not until December that couples were able to convert their previous civil partnerships to marriages. That month saw a spike of 2,400 marriages.
“Civil partnerships can be interpreted as the forerunner for same-sex marriage, although some differences may result from the fact that same-sex marriage has not been the trailblazer that civil partnership evidently was,” Haskey said.
The high court will hear a challenge next week from a heterosexual couple, Charles Keidan and Rebecca Steinfeld, fighting for the right to obtain a civil partnership.
“We’ve just had a baby and we want to cement and celebrate our relationship by forming a civil partnership,” Keidan said this week. “We were both involved in the fight for same-sex marriage within our community, and it is fantastic social progress that couples can now marry, regardless of sexual orientation.
“We, however, want to raise our child as equal partners and believe that a civil partnership – a modern, symmetrical institution – best reflects our beliefs, and sets the best example for her. Sadly, for reasons that remain unclear, the government has taken a different view.”
A petition calling on the government to allow civil partnerships to all, regardless of sex, has been signed by nearly 33,000 people, and supported by MPs Caroline Lucas, Tim Loughton, Andy Slaughter and Stephen Twigg.
Loughton said recognising civil partnerships would give great security to millions of cohabiting couples. “This is a large body of people and they have few protections if things go wrong, let alone tax advantages rightly now available to same-sex couples who can choose between marriage and civil partnership.
“Many cohabiting couples are living under the complete misconception that they are protected by ‘common law marriage,’ which does not formally exist.”
The case will be heard at the high court on 19 January.
