Humanist Marriage: Join In The Consultation

The government's consultation on humanist marriages has just begun - and you can contribute!

The consultation asks

• WHETHER the law should be changed to allow non-religious belief organisations such as BHA to conduct marriages;
• HOW it should be done.

If this proposal affects you, or if you have views on it, please do contribute to the consultation, at https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/marriages-by-non-religious-belief-organisations .

At the moment, pretty much any registered religious organisation can conduct marriages that are legally recognised. However, humanism isn't a religion, so humanist weddings have no legal status: a humanist couple can have an wedding ceremony that reflects their values and beliefs, but they have to traipse off to the town hall to get officially married.

In September 2010, our party conference set the ball rolling by voting overwhelmingly to support same-sex marriage; we were proud to be there supporting that resolution, and we were just as proud to be involved with the successful amendment calling for legalisation of humanist marriage.

Last year, we watched our MPs and peers fighting for humanist marriage as the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill worked its way through parliament.

Same-sex couples can now get married - a terrific achievement - but we won't consider the job done until the first same-sex humanist marriage has taken place.

PS We're also proud to have Julian Huppert as one of our Co-Presidents. You can find his LibDem Voice piece about the consultation at http://www.libdemvoice.org/julian-huppert-mp-writes-a-step-towards-humanist-weddings-41130.html