University of York event to mark same sex marriage legislation
Posted on 27 March 2014
The event on 28 March will include short speeches highlighting research on sexual orientation, identity and marriage carried out by Department of Sociology staff which helped set the context for the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.
It takes place the day before the first weddings of same sex couples under the new legislation.
Dr Paul Johnson is organising the event with colleague Professor Celia Kitzinger. It will be opened by the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Dr Jane Grenville who will give a talk on equality.
Dr Johnson said: “The majority of gay men and lesbians in the UK have lived with laws that actively sought to discriminate against them, whether that be through the criminalisation of sexual acts, the unequal age of consent, or the prohibition on ‘promoting homosexuality’ by Section 28.
“In the last decade we have witnessed tremendous legal and social change and finally, from March 2014, the law will fully recognise the intimate, loving relationships of same-sex couples.”
The Equal Marriage event is on 28 March at 4pm in the Research Centre for Social Sciences, Innovation Close, University of York, YO10 5ZF.
Notes to editors:
Professor Celia Kitzinger and her partner Professor Sue Wilkinson became one of the first same sex married couples in England and Wales to have their marriage recognised when key aspects of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 were introduced on 13 March 2014. The couple were married in Canada in 2003 but when they returned to the UK, their marriage could only be recognised as a civil partnership, despite a legal challenge.
Find out more about the Research Centre for Social Sciences at the University of York www.york.ac.uk/social-science
Find out more about the Department of Sociology www.york.ac.uk/sociology
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