A gay couple have initiated a High Court challenge to have their marriage recognised in Northern Ireland. Same-sex marriages have been lawful in England, Wales and Scotland since 2014, but Northern Ireland still treats same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions as civil partnerships. The two men were married in England and when they returned to Northern Ireland, they could only get civil partnership status. They have now initiated proceedings seeking equal status for their marriage in Northern Ireland.
They will request that the Belfast High Court make a declaration that their marriage is lawfully constituted in Northern Ireland and should be recognised as such. The couple were granted an anonymity order for the challenge, and reporting is restricted to protect their identity.
The couple are supported by the Rainbow Project, an organisation which provides support to LGBTI people and their families in Northern Ireland. John O’Doherty, director of the Rainbow Project, said: “We are very happy to support this important legal challenge. While same-sex marriage legislation in Westminster had many positive aspects, we believe that its provision forbidding the recognition of lawful same-sex marriages in Northern Ireland is irrational, contrary to principles of British constitutional law and incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights... Marriage is a fundamental human right”
Amnesty International Northern Ireland welcomed this challenge, having previously predicted that Northern Ireland’s ban on same-sex marriage would be challenged in the courts in 2015. Director of Amnesty International Northern Ireland, Patrick Corrigan said “States may not discriminate with regards to the right to marry and found a family, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. That obligation is clear in international law. This means that marriage should be available to same-sex couples in Northern Ireland, just as it is in Scotland, England and Wales.”
In April 2013 a Sinn Féin initiative to legislate for marriage equality was defeated in the Stormont parliament. Since then, the ban has remained in place. The Republic of Ireland is to hold the marriage equality referendum in May 2015. If the referendum passes, Northern Ireland will be the only part of the United Kingdom and Ireland to not allow same-sex marriage.
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