The Lesbian & Gay Foundation have launched a new campaign to encourage people to fight for equality and support same-sex marriage.
They are calling for people to contact their MPs to offer a message of support for same-sex marriage and encourage them to vote in favour of the proposed legislation.
Here is our letter:
Mrs Louise Ellman MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
19 January 2013
Dear Mrs Ellman,
Equal Marriage
I am writing to you both personally and on behalf of my civil partner.
We live in your constituency and have been following the Equal Marriage debate very closely. We are delighted to hear that you have indicated that you will be voting in favour of the Equal Marriage legislation which comes before parliament later this year. We wanted to write to you to say thank you for your support and we both look forward to the passing of this legislation.
We had our civil partnership ceremony at Ullet Road Unitarian Church Liverpool on 6 May 2012. We were the first couple in the UK to take advantage of the change in legislation which allowed the registration of civil partnerships on religious premises. We are both practising Christians and our faith plays a large and important part in our lives. Having our civil partnership registered and blessed in a church was such a joyful occasion for us, truly a dream come true.
While in many ways we already consider ourselves ‘married’, we eagerly await the day when this can be true legally as it already is spiritually for us. Sadly even with this proposed legislation we won’t be able to celebrate our wedding at our Anglican parish church which we attend every week, in which we are actively involved. Not because our minister is unwilling, quite the contrary, but because of exemptions from the legislation for the Church of England. We are actively campaigning within the Church of England for a change of heart on this issue.
There has been a great deal of vitriolic language from those who object to the introduction of this legislation. It greatly saddens us to hear this and I’m sure as the legislation progresses we will hear a great deal more. We are blessed that we live in a city that, on the whole, is passionate about justice and welcomes her LGBT citizens warmly, and also a parish church which does the same. We are grateful for the allies the LGBT community has in our MPs, Councillors and other local leaders, and we particularly want to say that you have our support and gratitude as you vote on this vital piece of legislation.
Yours sincerely,
Kieran Bohan
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