The term ‘marriage’ needs to be untangled

Rebecca Steinfeld (37) and Charles Keidan (41) have a moral objection to marriage. They’ve been together since 2010, have two very small children, but haven’t tied the knot. This, they say, is because the law doesn’t offer a knot they’re comfortable tying. ‘Charlie and I see each other as partners already in life, and we want to have the status of being partners in law,’ says Rebecca. They hold (and you may agree or disagree but it’s not a crazy view) that the concept described by the word ‘marriage’ is asymmetrical between the man and the woman, and inextricably tangled with religion and with cultural attitudes this couple (and others) may not share.

So in 2014 they tried to register a civil partnership at Chelsea Town Hall, but were told such partnerships were for same-sex couples only. They went to law. Their challenge was that section 1(1) of the 2004 Civil Partnership Act — ‘a relationship between two people of the same sex’ — contravened their reading of the European Convention on Human Rights, so (they argued) they were being discriminated against. Last week the Supreme Court agreed.

I haven’t seen Charles Keidan in ages but we met and talked years ago and found ourselves often on the same wavelength; and I can tell you he’s a deeply, almost painfully, serious man, and no posturer. Plainly, though, this legal venture was undertaken not primarily for his and Rebecca’s personal convenience, but to make a point the couple believe is of wider significance. I think they’re almost right, but not quite. And in narrowly missing its target, the debate they’ve sparked has missed the target too.