Nancy Kelley, the Chief Executive of Stonewall, a prominent LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, has been told that her 15-year civil partnership with her wife, Jenn Merrick, cannot be converted into marriage under UK law. In a tearful post on social media, Kelley shared the heartbreaking experience of trying to upgrade their union to a marriage. The couple, who have been together for 16 years and got a civil partnership in Vermont, moved to the UK where their union was recognized under the Civil Partnerships Act 2004.
After same-sex marriage was legalized in the UK, the couple did not choose to get married under the new act, but recently, Jenn expressed her fear that their relationship would lose its legal protection. After months of unreturned emails and administrative chaos, the couple finally got an appointment at the registrar, but their hopes were soon crushed. The registrar told them that their civil partnership was not recognized in the UK and that they would have to go back to Vermont and get divorced if they wanted to be married under UK law.
Kelley read her way through the entirety of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act, where she discovered the clause that related to upgrading civil unions to marriages. The clause stated that people may convert a civil partnership into a marriage “under a procedure established by regulations made by the Secretary of State”. The Cabinet office has been contacted in regards to this legislation. In her post, Kelley expressed her frustration and sadness, stating that she just wanted to make the woman she loves feel safer in this “queerphobic hellscape” but was unable to do so.