Theresa May has pledged to introduce civil partnerships for heterosexual couples in the UK. The Prime Minister said the move was for people who wanted to “formalise their relationship but don’t necessarily want to get married”. However, pro-marriage organisations say heterosexual civil partnerships would weaken marriage by creating a ‘marriage-lite’ alternative.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Mrs May said she was “proud to sponsor the legislation that created equal marriage” and the latest proposal would give all couples “the same choices in life”.

Coalition for Marriage has previously warned: “The gold standard of commitment is marriage; with the declarations made in the presence of witnesses and the expectation of lifelong faithfulness”.

Heterosexual civil partnerships would only “weaken marriage by creating a two-tier system, offering a sort of marriage-lite option”.

Ciarán Kelly, a Deputy Director at The Christian Institute, has said civil partnerships give couples all the benefits of marriage without the responsibilities.
In Ireland, once marriage was redefined to excise sexual-complementarity from its essence, the Government stopped same-sex couples from engaging in new civil partnerships.