The first opposite-sex Civil Partnerships took place on 31st December following a change in the law and the introduction of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act.
Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan won their legal bid at the Supreme Court in 2018 for the right to have a civil partnership instead of a marriage and five years after being refused permission to give notice of a heterosexual civil partnership, Rebecca and Charles finally became civil partners on 31st December at Kensington and Chelsea Register Office in west London.
Many have a conscientious objection to marriage and what they see as its patriarchal associations, feeling that a civil partnership better reflects true equality. The government estimates as many as 84,000 opposite sex couples could become civil partners this year, giving them greater rights and protections within their relationships, without having to get married.