Marriage in all but name
A few years ago two of my friends had been together almost 12 years and they felt marriage would mark a positive and inevitable stage in their relationship. The bank holiday weekend finally provided a chance for me and others who know them to celebrate their love: it was their wedding day . I will refer to it as a wedding because the whole experience was so similar to every wedding I have ever been to and, as far as all the people involved last weekend were concerned, that is what it was. I will always call it marriage despite the current debate and opposition from some Tory politicians . Legally speaking, though, it was just a civil partnership ceremony. I did not know much about civil partnerships until I attended this event, but it feels as if they are a half-way house because the government will not go ahead and allow gay men and women to have a civil marriage. Why not? I don't understand this. What are they frightened of?...