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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

#MothersOnMarriageCerts - legislation finally through Parliament!

41 replies

nameequality · 15/03/2019 19:23

Some of you may remember my campaign calling for Mother's Names to be allowed on Marriage Certificates alongside Father's Names. (Also see article in the Telegraph.

I was forced into when the papers reported as such claimed 'victory' on this campaign in August 2014 when David Cameron remember him announced that this would change. The problem has been that the Government would not allocate parliamentary time for a bill to resolve this.....

Over 4 and a half years later one of several private members bills covering this topic has finally despite Brexit issues made it through Parliament and will be signed by Royal Assent in the next few weeks.

The bill is a private member's bill by Tim Loughton (Conservative) and also contains provision to allow for opposite sex civil partnerships (should probably be worth a separate thread) and provisions to alter the way stillbirths are recorded (apologies I am not at all up on the detail of that aspect of the bill). Well done Tim Loughton for getting this through!

You can see a video of Tim talking about the bill on his twitter feed.

I'm delighted that this matter is finally going to be fixed!

Thank you to my family (and especially my lovely Mum Flowers) for support and encouragement with this campaign. Smile. Thank you to all the MNers who supported this - and without the FWR board I'd probably have never noticed and decided it was something to campaign about!

Special thanks to Caroline Lucus and her staff for all their support at the beginning of my campaign and for raising the profile of this in the HoC via various early day motions. Also thanks to Caroline Spelman who had a crucial role 'negotiating' between the Government and the Church of England.

OP posts:
AlunWynsKnee · 21/03/2019 22:52

Well done you! Quite remarkable to have brought this change about. I've been looking at 17th century baptisms tonight and the mother's name wasn't recorded. A hundred years later it was but it's taken until now for us to make it to the wedding certificate.
Flowers

NeverTwerkNaked · 21/03/2019 23:00

Great news! These “little things” add up together to something big. The symbolism involved in a “traditional” wedding day (fathers giving away brides, fathers on the certificate, only men speaking) has shocked me. Watching successful and fiesty women stand mute while the men speak for them. Hopefully this is another step towards reinventing those traditions and the horrible symbolism inherent in them.

SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman · 21/03/2019 23:16

I've spent this evening looking at C19th Scottish records, and having no difficulty distinguishing between all the "James Browns, son of James Brown" because their mothers are on their birth, and marriage, and death certificates.

SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman · 21/03/2019 23:17

England: only 164 years behind Scotland.Grin

Trills · 21/03/2019 23:20

Great job, finally.

Ereshkigal · 21/03/2019 23:24

Well done, OP! Thanks

AlunWynsKnee · 21/03/2019 23:30

Surely I'm jealous!

MoltenLasagne · 22/03/2019 11:56

That's fantastic news - we also had our mothers as our witnesses so that they could be on the marriage certificate but how wonderful that mothers are finally acknowledged as possibly important to our children on a key legal certificate!

DpWm · 22/03/2019 12:05

Awe amazing news.
The whole "father giving daughter away" thing is really anachronistic.

MrsCalypsoGrant · 22/03/2019 13:02

Fantastic work OP 👏🏻 I've just shared this on Facey with the #dontmesswithMumsnet 😉

I remember when my ex & I converted from Civil Partnership to marriage the registrar said: "now this is where we go back to the dark ages, with fathers names only..."

I'm now engaged to marry my new female partner (yes I'm mad enough to do it all again 😁) It's wonderful to know that her late beloved mother's name can be on that certificate.

Many thanks OP 👍🏻

AcidityRegulated · 22/03/2019 13:06

This is fantastic. I look forward to the day when I can sign my own children's marriage certificates (if/when the time comes of course!). Thank you for all your hard work.

ChiefClerkDrumknott · 22/03/2019 13:15

That's brilliant, well done! Grin

Iregisteredjustforthis · 22/03/2019 13:58

I just wanted to say many thanks and great news! I remember writing to my MP about this back when I got (re)married in 2006 and was shocked to be told that mother's details still couldn't be submitted/entered. I also wrote to whoever it was he advised me to take it to (can't remember their name now) - all to no avail as I was told 'It will be dealt with at some time in the future'.

If it hadn't been that I needed to get married at that time (terminally ill relative) I would have postponed the whole thing. We wanted to get married for the 'legal next of kin rights' and at that time the civil partnership - which seemed less sexist in origin - wasn't available for different sex couples.

I remember signing your petition and also took part in other submissions and processes aimed to change the legislation on this. Other reasons for 'not doing it yet' I have heard included that 'It was going to be part of other changes taking part in marriage legislation that were being reviewed' and 'it was too expensive' (to change the forms?!?)

My mother may not be named on my marriage certificate but it is wonderful that my children won't face the same dilemma as I did, should they decide to get married, and that this ridiculous sexist inequality has now ended.

p.s. Yes, I did register just for this as I wanted to thank you! Long term browser, first time posting.

nameequality · 22/03/2019 15:40

Thanks Iregisteredjustforthis for coming out of lurkdom - I feel honoured!

The amount of effort required to get this changed was crazy - it’s not good that it needed a groundswell of obvious support + media attention.

(I’m aware that many people had written to their MPs over the years...)

OP posts:
BernardBlacksWineIcelolly · 22/03/2019 15:48

congratulations and well done nameequality

Cake and Flowers

btw - I think we met at a talk by Helen Pankhurst? I recognise your face from the Telegraph picture!

butteryellow · 22/03/2019 15:51

I do remember OP (many name changes ago for myself)

Bloody well done.

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