Congratulations Shannon Sickles and Grainne Close, the first lesbian couple to get legally married in the UK.

The BBC’s article is here; do you think someone should have told the homophobes outside (see the picture further down) that women don’t usually sodomise other women?!

5.45pm This column in the Guardian, written by Jerome Farrell who will marry his partner Ray later this week, is well worth a read. Jerome talks about his previous partner Steve, who died ten years ago, and gives an example of what committed couples had to contend when one of them died, before civil partnerships:

The day after Steve died, I went to the town hall to register his death. I explained to the registrar that I was Steve’s partner and lived with him, but she informed me that only relatives could register a death. A loophole was found - I was with Steve when he died in our home, and could register in that capacity with the words “present at the death” appearing after my name on the certificate to explain how I qualified as the person registering the information. Had I not been present when Steve died, his mother or sister (both of whom lived 150 miles away) would have had to register the death.

In general it seems to be the case that the coverage of the first civil partnerships has been positive, enjoying the scenes of happiness with the newly-registered couples. Certainly, the BBC is doing well: News 24 has just had Matthew Parris on, together with a couple from Brighton who have been together for 40 years and will marry on Wednesday. It does irritate me, though, that they give any space at all to frankly hateful speech from some of the clerics who picketed the Belfast ceremonies.

And so I end up at Peter Tatchell’s pretty odd piece in the Guardian today. He’s been banging the drum that civil partnerships aren’t good enough for a while now - see this news report from 2003, when they were first mooted.

Veteran gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell described the plans as “heterophobic” and “retrograde”. “It is divisive, heterophobic and discriminatory to exclude unmarried heterosexual couples,” he said. “Cohabiting heterosexuals also lack legal recognition and protection. This is a grave injustice.” He added: “It is a pity the government has opted for an unimaginative, watered down version of marriage, instead of having the foresight to devise an entirely new, modern legal framework for partnership recognition.”

I have little sympathy for this point of view: as I first wrote in February 2004, I’m sure some straight people are angry that in order to get their relationship recognised, they need to enter what they perceive as a patriarchial institution founded on the notion of passing a woman from her father’s care to her husband’s. As a feminist, I have real sympathy with this point of view, but the fact remains that straight couples already have the option of a civil ceremony with no religious significance held in a registry office, whereas lesbian and gay people (until now) have had no way of registering their relationships and safeguarding their loved ones. And it’s just not the case that couple-relationships are the same as other loving family and friendship relationships: I want equality with my straight friends and family, a recognition that my relationship with Jo is as strong and as committed as that between any man and woman. Not a second-rate free-for-all for inheritance tax avoidance, thank you.

And there’s not only this problem with it: his Outrage group (their site’s currently down, so no link) have kept up a steady stream of complaining press releases outlining the enormous downside to civil partnerships: that gay couples, previously benefiting from the state’s non-acknowledgement of their relationship, rooted in a heterosexist worldview, will be treated as a mutually-supporting couple for benefits purposes, whether they register their relationship or not. So we don’t get to pick and choose when out loved ones are lovers, and when they are merely flatmates any more - what a disaster! Honestly, you’d think this was black day for the gays, the way Tatchell and friends carry on. But it’s not: cheers, Shannon and Grainne (how do you pronounce that, by the way?). Enjoy your first night of wedlock.

18:27 I take back everything I said about the BBC’s coverage including the bigots. Peter Dobbie has just said, live on News 24, after talking to Christopher Cramp, whose partner died in a hospice the day after they got married on Dec 5th:

“Those who are opposed to civil partnerships have said to the BBC that maybe we should reassess the nature of love. Maybe it’s not for me to say, but I think we have just seen the nature of true love”.