Giant card and demonstration call on Prince William and Kate Middleton to support gay marriage
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and the Equal Love campaign have presented Prince William and Kate Middleton a wedding card that calls for their support for gay marriage.
The giant card, which was handed into Buckingham Palace by scores of supporters read: “Congratulations William and Kate on your Wedding Day. We wish you a happy life together. You can get married, gay people can’t. We are banned by law. We ask you to support marriage equality. Equal=Love.”
Peter Tatchell said: “As well as wishing the royal couple happiness, our card highlighted the fact that William and Kate can marry, but same-sex couples cannot. In democratic society, we should all be equal before the law. The ban on gay marriage is discrimination and should be repealed.”
He added that “the public response was amazingly supportive. Everyone outside the palace expressed support for marriage equality. We didn’t get a single negative reaction.
“William and Kate are a modern young couple. They have gay friends. I am sure they would not wish them to be discriminated against. Denying gay people the right to marry is unjust discrimination.
“Kate and William had a choice. They could get married, or not. They chose to marry. Great. Same-sex couples don’t have this choice. We are banned from marriage by law.
“We are urging the royal couple to find a way, within official protocol, to indicate their support for marriage equality. If they did this, they’d be the first royal couple to do so.”
Three of the couples currently involved in the European Court of Human Rights legal challenge to the UK ban on gay marriage and straight civil partnerships were present at the demonstration today.
55 per cent of PinkNews readers who took part in a self-selecting poll said they agreed that Prince William and Kate Middleton should call for marriage equality. A further 15 per cent said that they should support equality if they believe in it while 20 per cent questioned whether it mattered what the future King and Queen thought about gay marriage.
