This petition was submitted during the 2010 to 2015 Parliament
Closed petition Retain the terms "husband" and "wife" in all our laws
Closed on
This week, MPs approved sweeping changes to legislation dating back as far as 1285AD to avoid unintended consequences of the Marriage (Same Sex) Couples Act 2013. A committee of MPs voted in favour of a draft order outlining amendments to 36 Acts going back to 1859 and an additional 67 pieces of legislation dating back 729 years. Under the proposals, references to mother, father, husband and wife would be amended. "Partner" and "spouse" would be added in order to recognise a greater diversity of relationships but "husband" and "wife" would be removed. Removal of these terms may amount to "heterophobia", which is not the intent. It would also incur unnecessary cost.
We call upon the government to retain the terms "husband" and "wife" alongside "partner" and "spouse" in all relevant contexts in all 36 Acts and all 67 pieces of legislation. We demand the right to continue to be recognised in law as husbands and wives, alongside all lawful recognition of "partners" and "spouses".
189 signatures
Petition progress
View all updates for this petition, with the most recent first.
-
Petition closed
-
Petition published
This petition can now be signed.
If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.
If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.
This petition will stay open until 4 March 2015.