Jersey Evening Post: Monday 1 December 2014
BBC Radio Jersey: Sunday 30 November 2014 (timecode: 01:04)
Pink News: Friday 28 November 2014
Jersey Evening Post: Wednesday 26 November 2014
Jersey Evening Post: Thursday 27 November 2014
Channel Television: Wednesday 26 November 2014
BBC Radio Jersey: Wednesday 26 November 2014 (timecode: 01:07)
BBC News: Wednesday 26 November 2014
Bailiwick Express: Thursday 27 November 2014
Trans* Jersey and Liberate met with Chief Minister Ian Gorst on 21 November 2014 to discuss the findings of the consultation into the question of whether it is appropriate to introduce legislation to equalise marriage in Jersey.
Consultation results
The online survey conducted by the Chief Minister’s office had 1,094 respondents and 161 people wrote letters on the subject. This represents an amazing level of response and bears witness to strongly held opinions on both sides of the debate.
However, this only represents 1.5% of the population and, inevitably, only those members of the population who feel strongly about the subject. It was no surprise, therefore, to learn that 54% of respondents were for and 46% were against equal marriage. The closeness of the result is probably not representative of the population as a whole but speaks to the fact that about 10% of the population are LGBTQ and about 10% of the population are regular churchgoers, both parties being well mobilised and well versed in the arguments for and against.
Of the three options offered for making equal marriage a reality, the responses were as follows –
On the question of allowing humanist marriages to take place, 50% agreed that they should, but the lack of comments on this issue was interpreted to mean either a lack of understanding of the issue or a lack of real interest in seeing it happen.
On the question of opening up civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples, 75% were in favour. However, the comments from respondents indicated that this option was less about equality and more about greater legal protection for co-habiting couples.
On the question of parity of law for same-sex and opposite-sex couples where adultery is concerned, 65% were for equalising the law.
Of the options offered for equalising the law on adultery, the responses were as follows –
This result spoke to concerns that fidelity is important within any marriage and that to remove adultery from law is to make fidelity appear less important.
In addition, a number of points came out of the consultation –
The proposal
Based on his findings, the Chief Minister will be bringing forward the following proposal for legislation –
Timetable
The Chief Minister will report his findings to the States Chamber on 26 November 2014. The proposition will be brought in the first quarter of 2015 with a request for the States to approve the time frame and the process of legal change. Because there are extensive amendments that need to be made to other laws, a clear order of progress is required. (For example, within taxation law, a couple in a civil partnership can elect which partner is treated as the main taxpayer but, for a married couple, it is always the husband who is automatically the main taxpayer. This is clearly inequitable and needs amending.)
It is anticipated that Jersey will have same-sex marriage by the end of 2017.
You can download the full report on the consultation here.
Pink News: Friday 29 August 2014
BBC Radio Jersey: Sunday 31 August 2014 (timecode: 02.09)
Channel Island equality charity Liberate and affiliate group Trans*Jersey welcome the States of Jersey’s consultation on equal marriage and partnership.
Jersey’s Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, launched a public consultation on equal marriage and partnership on 20 August 2014 that will run until 22 October 2014.
Following their meeting on 29 July 2014 with Senator Gorst, Liberate and Trans* Jersey are pleased with the results of the first stakeholder meetings and the options for equal marriage in Jersey arising from those initial discussions being put forward by the Chief Minister.
Jersey Co-ordinator for Liberate Vic Tanner Davy said:
“The options being offered to the public are ones that Liberate and Trans* Jersey supports and we have already responded positively to the suggestion that Jersey introduce same-sex civil marriage and same-sex religious marriage. Although truly equal marriage would be represented by the Union Civile, we have moved away from that position because of the disturbance that its introduction would cause to the long-standing relationship of the Church of England to the Crown and the State, something that would necessitate a much bigger and longer constitutional debate.
“We are also supportive of the proposal to open up civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples. In the interests of equality, this is the only fair thing to do. It is something that the UK has not done and for Jersey to be considering this option shows how committed the Chief Minister and his department are to ensuring we get this right as an island.”
The consultation document also addresses the question of whether adultery as grounds for divorce in a marriage should be removed or redefined to ensure that same-sex couples are treated equally. The current legal position is that an opposite-sex marriage can be ended by adultery but a same-sex civil partnership cannot.
“On the question of adultery, we would like to see adultery as grounds for divorce in a marriage removed because that would equalise the grounds on which a marriage or civil partnership can be dissolved. In so doing, it would no longer relegate the sexual congress of same-sex couples to something less than that of opposite-sex couples.
“Adultery is just as emotionally damaging to same-sex relationships as it is to opposite-sex relationships but it can be covered in law by citing the grounds for divorce/dissolution as “unreasonable behaviour”. We feel that all marriages and civil partnerships would be protected from sexual infidelity via this route and, therefore, removing adultery is appropriate in the interests of equality.”
Liberate congratulates the Chief Minister and his department on the sensitivity with which they have worded the consultation and the research they have undertaken, in a very short period of time, in order to produce a comprehensive document that covers all the main permutations for equal marriage and partnerships. The consultation paper is balanced and, as far as possible, gives equal weight to the considerations of both the LGBTQ community and those religious groups who feel they cannot solemnise same-sex marriages in their place of worship.
Martin Gavet, Chairman of Liberate, said:
“Liberate is an inclusive group and we welcome members regardless of race, gender, disability, religious belief, gender identity or sexual orientation. It is, therefore, very important to us that religious groups have a means to opt-out of performing same-sex marriages and their freedom of religious belief is maintained. The options put forward by the consultation paper make it clear that places of worship will be able to opt-out in line with the position of their organisation. Having said that, we also hope that in time religious organisations, which currently oppose same-sex unions, will grow in their understanding of LGBTQ issues and the spiritual needs of some of the LGBTQ community.”
The States of Jersey are currently asking for comments from the public on proposals for an equal marriage and partnership law. They have published a consultation paper, which can be downloaded here.
The consultation process closes on 22 October 2014 and the Chief Minister will report to the States in November 2014.
What the consultation does not do is ask whether a respondent is in favour of same-sex marriage. As far as the consultation is concerned that argument has been had and the island has to move on. Same-sex marriage is going to happen. It is now a question of how. The consultation paper offers a number of options for equal marriage and tackles a couple of other inequalities in current marriage law at the same time.
The consultation document is quite weighty but it is well-written and researched. It is also progressive in its thinking and doesn’t just copy what other jurisdictions have done. It offers three options for same-sex marriage:
All three options provide a means for someone to transition within a marriage without having to dissolve an existing union. Trans* Jersey is most keen to ensure that any legislation brought in does not contain the so-called Spousal Veto that is enshrined within the England and Wales Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 and that, should option 1 or 2 be adopted, any law is modeled on the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014.
The other section of specific interest to trans* islanders is part D that deals with adultery as grounds for divorce. As people who may or may not have the genitals that are expected of a man or woman, the legal definition of adultery doesn’t always make sense within a marriage in which one or both partners are trans*. In a farsighted move, the States are proposing either doing away with adultery as grounds for divorce or redefining adultery to include same-sex acts. Clearly, removing adultery altogether is the simpler option here.
We have requested involvement in any forum convened by the States to discuss the proposed legislation and were involved in the first round of meetings on 29 July 2014.
Get involved
Whilst Trans* Jersey encourages you to complete the online survey, we would also like to receive your comments about the States’ proposal regarding equal marriage and partnerships.
We believe that by speaking together as a group of trans* islanders our comments on the consultation will carry more weight.
Our partner organisation Liberate’s Jersey group has already responded and you can read their response here.
We therefore invite you to email us with your comments, suggestions, thoughts or concerns at admin@transjersey.org
This is the full version of Liberate‘s excellent letter to all members of the States of Jersey on the subject of Deputy Sam Mézec’s proposition:
I write on behalf of LIBERATE in support of Deputy Sam Mézec’s proposition lodged at the States Greffe on Wednesday 28 May 2014 petitioning the States of Jersey to introduce equal marriage in the Bailiwick of Jersey.
LIBERATE is the first Channel Island charity to support the islands’ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Community (LGBTQ).
Who we are
Liberate is an inclusive Group, which welcomes people irrespective of sexual orientation, gender identity, religious belief, race, gender or disability. We are a local charity and were founded on 15 February 2014 in Guernsey.
Liberate is made up of a virtual rainbow of people from every different gender and sexual identity you could possibly think of. With such a diverse background we can operate on many different levels as we all bring something different to the group.
Our vision
Our vision is simple. We believe in a Fair & Equal society, where everyone is born equal and free, and treated with dignity and respect no matter what their gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, belief or race.
Article 1 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights states: “All people are born free & equal in dignity and rights”.
Children do not know racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, unless they are taught it and government has a responsibility to ensure that it sends a clear message to communities that discrimination in all its forms is not acceptable.
Our purpose
The purpose of Liberate is to educate and inform on a wide range of issues and to support those who identify as LGBTQ, their families and friends.
We campaign to reform some of Guernsey’s policies and laws to ensure that LGBTQ people can enjoy the same freedoms as everyone else in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. We also lend our support to the LGBTQ community in Jersey and are affiliated to Trans*Jersey.
We question social attitudes and behaviours which discriminate against LGBTQ people, and offer advice and help in tackling homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, etc.
Our aims
We will petition and work with government to:
Since our website www.liberate.gg was launched we have had over 1,000 signatures in support of equal marriage in the islands. We have also achieved one of our aims in Guernsey of having transgender reassignment surgery funded by the States of Guernsey. We also:
The Free & Equal Campaign
The United Nations Human Rights Commission recently launched its Free & Equal Campaign which is partly aimed at world governments to ensure that they do not actively discriminate through legislation and policy, as well as encouraging the LGBTQ community to speak out and have a voice.
The LGBTQ community have historically been persecuted, tortured and executed[1]. Indeed 81 countries still classify homosexuality as a criminal offence. It is only in recent history that it was decriminalised in our society, and not until the early 1990’s that the World Health Organisation declassified homosexuality as a disease. We hope that you can therefore appreciate how difficult it is for the LGBTQ community to be visible and speak out against social injustice.
Deputy Mézec’s Proposition
Deputy Mézec’s proposition is an important step for Jersey in ensuring that each and every one of its citizens are free and equal in dignity and rights.
Jersey recently made an important step in terms of tackling discrimination with the introduction of its Discrimination Law. We see the introduction of equal marriage in Jersey as a natural progressive step towards that goal. Failure to do so will deny approximately 10% of the population the right to marry, and be totally at odds with Jersey’s current social policy in terms of discrimination.
Guernsey’s Chief Minister has already assured LIBERATE that he will bring a report to the States of Guernsey before the end of this political term proposing the introduction of a Union Civile for all couples who wish to marry. Under the proposed law, it will be the choice of those getting married whether they chose to then have a blessing or humanist celebration.
We hope Jersey does the same.
The England and Wales Equal Marriage Act caused problems for transgender people over the so-called Spousal Veto. It allows their spouse to refuse to permit them to have a Gender Reassignment Certificate, which would convert the marriage from opposite-sex to same-sex. We prefer the Scottish Same Sex Marriage Law of 2014 model which overcomes that “veto”.
Winning Hearts and Minds
LIBERATE acknowledges that changing laws and policies is only part of the solution to changing societal attitudes towards the LGBTQ community.
Together we must win the hearts and minds of those who through ignorance, intolerance, and hatred, discriminate against various sections of our community. It is that intolerance which can divide families, friends and colleagues, and damage the very fabric of our society, with consequential harm to individuals and cost to government and other third party agencies. The LGBTQ community is widely acknowledged to be twice at risk of harm of anxiety, depression, substance misuse, self harm and suicide because of the affects that prejudicial attitudes have.
Changing laws and policies sends out a very clear signal to society of what is acceptable and what behaviours are not.
Our commitment to the States of Jersey is that we will work and co-operate with government locally in terms of ensuring that the universal principle of fairness and equality for all applies within our islands. Whether it be in changing laws and policies, or helping States departments in developing social policy strategies which promote equality and inclusion and celebrate the importance of diversity.
We ask you to vote “Pour” in favour of Deputy Mézec’s proposition.
Yours faithfully
Martin Gavet
Hon. Chairperson
LIBERATE
[1] Including an estimated 100,000 LGBTQ people who were victims of the Nazi Holocaust.
The JEP report from Tuesday 17 June 2014:
Listen again on Radio Jersey (from 6 July 2014, timecode 42:00)
Listen again on Radio Jersey (from 27 June 2014, timecode 38:00)
Letter to the Jersey Evening Post on 13 June 2014:
Why civil partnerships do not make for equal marriage
For those who think that they were made some kind of promise by the gay community that civil partnerships would be enough to ensure equality, I can confirm that no such promise was made by the trans community who have always known that civil partnerships do not provide true equality. As Jersey law stands, a person in a marriage or civil partnership who undergoes gender reassignment whilst still in that union is severely discriminated against.
A key part of a transgender person’s journey is acquiring their gender recognition certificate (”GRC”) after two years of living as their true gender. It is a legal document that means for all purposes you are the gender you present. It enables a trans person to have all legal documents amended, including their birth certificate. It also provides a degree of privacy protection for the trans person because it is an offence under the Gender Recogntion (Jersey) Law to “out” someone in possession of a GRC, for example, when giving an employment reference.
Under current Jersey legislation, at the point at which a trans person in a marriage or civil partnership applies for their GRC, they are forced to dissolve their union. Having done so, they are then expected to re-make their union using the vehicle appropriate to their gender and the gender of their spouse. The choice for transgender individuals in this situation is clear: either, do not apply for your GRC and continue having your official documents “out” you; or, change your official documents at the cost of losing your legal ties to your family.
Anyone who has been through a divorce will know that not only are there costs involved, emotional and financial, but also that a divorce immediately stops the continuation of joint arrangements, such as pension provisions, insurance policies and wills, some of which cannot be re-started without severe penalty. And, if the union has produced children, the situation gets even more complicated. I think that all sides of the marriage argument would agree that nobody should be forced to go through a divorce.
In 2006, the International Commission of Jurists and the International Service for Human Rights developed a set of international legal principles on the application of international law to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These were called the Yogyakarta Principles and, whilst not adopted as an international standard, are cited by UN bodies and national courts, and many governments have made them a guiding tool for defining their policies in the matter. The European Commissioner for Human Rights has endorsed the Yogyakarta Principles, in particular principle number 3, and considers them an important tool for identifying the obligations of states to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of all persons, regardless of their gender identity.
Yogyakarta Principle number 3 states that, “Each person’s self-defined sexual orientation and gender identity is integral to their personality and is one of the most basic aspects of self-determination, dignity and freedom… No status, such as marriage or parenthood, may be invoked as such to prevent the legal recognition of a person’s gender identity.”
Whilst legislation exists that gives opposite-sex couples a different piece of paper from same-sex couples, there will always be an inequality at the heart of the island’s laws. Jersey is proudly bringing in the first piece of anti-discrimination legislation later this year and, yet, enshrined within its laws is a nasty little “gotcha” that discriminates against a person in a marriage or civil partnership who transitions. If Jersey is serious about improving its human rights credentials on the world stage, it needs to adopt the Yogyakarta Principles as an internationally recognised model of best practice and address anomalies within its legislation such as this.
This is why Trans* Jersey is supporting Guernsey’s proposition for a Union Civile that requires all couples, regardless of gender, to wed in a civil ceremony that registers the union for legal purposes. Having done the legal part, couples who then wish to seek a church service aligned to their religious beliefs regarding marriage can do so. This solves the argument over the definition of marriage that exercises religious and secular groups, and it enables a transgender person to acquire their GRC and alter the gender on their Union Civile certificate without having to divorce. It is an elegantly simple solution to the problem and one that we hope Jersey will also propose, debate and pass.
Trans* Jersey 