London Partnership Register
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The London Partnership Register was a scheme to help formalise same-sex relationships set up in 2001 by
Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...
, then
Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...
, a little over 4 years before the first legally recognised same-sex unions in the United Kingdom (known as "
civil partnerships A civil union (also known as a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. Civi ...
") were introduced by the
Civil Partnership Act 2004 The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced by the Labour government, which grants civil partnerships in the United Kingdom the rights and responsibilities very similar to those in civil ...
. In that time, just under 1,000 couples had signed the register, some of whom were among the first to become civil partners on 21 December 2005, the first day that was possible in
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
.


History

The London Partnership Register was launched on 5 September 2001 by
Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...
, then
Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...
, working with
Angela Mason Angela Margaret Mason (born 9 August 1944) is a British civil servant and activist, and a former director of the UK-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lobbying organisation Stonewall. She is a former Chair of the Fawcett Society, a ...
, his advisor on LGBT issues and at the time director of Stonewall. Setting up a same-sex registration scheme had been suggested by gay
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
Assembly Member
Darren Johnson Darren Paul Johnson (born 1966) is a former English politician who was a prominent member of the Green Party of England and Wales. He represented the Green Party on the London Assembly from 2000 to 2016 and was a Green councillor in the London ...
during the first Mayor's Question Time in 2000. The new scheme was announced shortly before Mardi Gras 2001, London's
LGBT pride In the context of LGBTQ culture, pride (also known as LGBTQ pride, LGBTQIA pride, LGBT pride, queer pride, gay pride, or gay and lesbian pride) is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility o ...
celebrations. Both same-sex and opposite-sex couples were eligible to register, as long as at least one partner was a resident of
Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
. For the first year, partnerships were registered at the
Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the Metonymy, metonym City Hall, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved Regions of England, regional governance body of Greater London, England. It consists of two political ...
(GLA) headquarters in
Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
, and moved one year later to its new building in
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on the
South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Lambeth, central London, England. The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated betwe ...
of the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
near
Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...
on 5 September 2002. Couples could have up to 25 guests attend a brief ceremony, and received a certificate confirming registration. The register was funded by an £85 fee. For confidentiality, the register was not made publicly available. Like similar schemes in many US cities, the register did not confer legal recognition equivalent to marriage, but it was hoped that courts might voluntarily accept registration as evidence in disputes involving tenancy, immigration, or pensions. For the launch, Livingstone wrote in the ''
Pink Paper The ''Pink Paper'' was a UK publication covering gay and lesbian issues published by Millivres Prowler Limited. Founded in 1987 as a newspaper, it switched to internet-only publication in June 2009. The decision to go online-only was announce ...
'': "The London Partnerships Register is a step on the road to equality. I hope other cities will follow suit and that other organisations will accept it as proof of a relationship." By late 2004, over 800 couples had signed the register, of which two-thirds were male–male couples, over a quarter were female–female couples and 3% were mixed-gender. The GLA did not keep records as to whether any registrants were
transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
. Within the first 2 years of operation, 17 of the 602 registrants had separated and asked for their names to be removed from the register. Likewise, in the first year of operation 5 of the 314 partnerships had separated, a ratio almost identical to that of first-year divorce among mixed-gender couples. Other British cities such as
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
announced their intent to follow London's lead, with both
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
setting up their own registers within two years of London. The London Partnership Register closed after the
Civil Partnership Act 2004 The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced by the Labour government, which grants civil partnerships in the United Kingdom the rights and responsibilities very similar to those in civil ...
was passed. By 15 December 2005, 998 couples had registered their commitment under the scheme. On 21 December 2005, actor Ian Burford and nursing manager Alex Cannell, the first couple to sign the register in 2001, were also among the hundreds of same-sex couples to register their civil partnerships on 21 December 2005, the first day that was possible in
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
.


See also

*
Civil Partnership Act 2004 The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced by the Labour government, which grants civil partnerships in the United Kingdom the rights and responsibilities very similar to those in civil ...
*
Legal status of same-sex marriage Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
*
LGBT rights in the United Kingdom The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the United Kingdom have developed significantly over time. Today, lesbian, gay and bisexual rights are considered to be advanced by international standards. However ...
**
Civil partnership in the United Kingdom Civil partnership in the United Kingdom is a form of civil union between couples open to both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. It was introduced via the Civil Partnership Act 2004, ''Civil Partnership Act 2004'' by the Labour govern ...
**
Same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom Same-sex marriage is legal in all parts of the United Kingdom. As marriage is a Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved legislative matter, different parts of the United Kingdom legalised at different times; it has been recognised and perfor ...


Notes


Sources and references

{{Reflist 2001 establishments in England 2001 in LGBTQ history 2001 in London 2004 disestablishments in England 2004 in London Ken Livingstone LGBTQ history in England LGBTQ law in the United Kingdom LGBTQ culture in London Marriage, unions and partnerships in England Same-sex union legislation Social history of London