Sexual Orientation and Human Rights

Introduction
As a law student with a particular interest in family life, there has always been a distinctive curiosity in our full rights as human beings. It is clear that the UK law has certainly made some positive progress over the years with such things as the ‘Human Rights’ and ‘Equality’, but just how far is Parliament willing to alter their legislations in order to satisfy their British citizens. To date there have been numerous changes, from women being able to vote and improved racial laws, to the main reason for this dissertation; same-sex couples being able to express their love for each other without committing an offence.
This dissertation is an attempt to address the issue of same-sex couples not having the right to marry. Marriage is perceived as a wonderful thing between man and woman, but in today’s society things have changed immensely and Parliament has certainly recognised this. People are exploring their sexuality in many ways and now with same-sex couples having the right to live their lives more freely; more and more rights are sought after. With the Civil Partnership Act 2004 becoming part of the British legislation, it is apparent that the UK Parliament have taken advance steps to reach equality, allowing these civil partners the same rights as a married spouses.

Until 2005 same-sex couples were never able to take their relationship to a legally recognised degree, and although this act may be perceived as a good will gesture by some people, there are still some differences between marriage and civil partnerships which some same-sex couples consider to be discriminatory.
Civil partnership is believed to be equivalent to ‘civil’ marriage, although there is still diversity between the two and for this reason, this dissertation is going to focus on the question from the views of those same-sex couples who want ‘marriage’ itself. By looking into the requests and protests covering this topic of same-sex marriage, there may be evident concerns for these people and their ‘human rights’.
In order to achieve an answer to the selected question, this dissertation will need to be divided into individual chapters, which will focus on particular elements of the issue and with any luck come to a conclusion why ‘same-sex couples can not marry’, and maybe even uncover a solution as to what future changes could be made in order make this possible.
The first chapter will concentrate on the law relating to civil partners and married spouses, what differences they may have and the similarities involved. The second chapter will focus on the rights and responsibilities of civil partners, and the rights they now have which differ from those before the Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into legislation. Chapter three will cover what it is that same-sex couples want in regards to their relationships. It may show that civil partnership is not as satisfactory as thought to be and some same-sex couples may want more. Marriage has become a much desired practice within the gay community, so why has it been restrictedMany people are both for and against same-sex marriage and this chapter will cover their views. The fourth and final chapter will analyse and compare same-sex couple’s rights in the UK with those in Spain. These findings may explain and expose what the future holds for same-sex couples in the UK and if the UK law will be satisfactory for those it involves.
All of the information gathered should aid in explaining why same-sex couples can not marry in the UK, for what reasons and what could be done to make a change. Without a doubt, the Human Rights Act and Equality Act is assumed to be the answer in finding a solution for this dissertation, butdepending on what is found within this work, it may be more complicated than believed.
Chapter 1- Civil partnership vs. marriage