Rejected petition Divorce law: change the definition of ‘adultery’ to encompass same sex marriage.

The Matrimonial Causes Act was made nearly fifty years ago during a time when perceptions on same sex marriages were very different. As such, only opposite sex marriages can use ‘adultery’ as a grounds for divorce. Change the definition of ‘adultery’ within the act to encompass same sex marriages.

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The definition of adultery within the 1973 Act is ‘Voluntary sexual intercourse between a man and a woman who are not married to each other but one of whom is married to someone else’. It follows therefore that adultery can only be grounds for divorce where there has been sexual intercourse between two people of the opposite sex, sexual intimacy between two people of the same sex is not “adultery” for the purposes of obtaining a divorce if one of those people is in a same sex marriage.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

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You may wish to sign this petition calling for the same action: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598004

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Date submitted 10 December 2021
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