Janette Porteous considers whether same-sex marriage will cause a split between the Church & state
Under current legislation a marriage can only be between couples of the opposite sex. Indeed s 11(c) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 provides that a marriage is void if the parties are not respectively male and female. The definition of marriage is grounded in the beliefs of the Church of England as expressed in the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 as follows: “The only kind of marriage which English law recognises is one which is essentially the voluntary union for life of one man and with one woman, to the exclusion of all others.”
This definition of marriage was affirmed by Lord Penzance in Hyde v Hyde and Woodhouse (1866) LR 1 P&D 130 and in subsequent cases.
While same-sex couples can enter into civil partnerships by virtue of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (which allows same sex couples to register their relationship and thereby, upon registration, acquire similar rights to married persons, especially on relationship
