Payouts To Gay Couples Are Wrong

A report in today's edition of The Times has indicated that the Home Secretary wishes to give legal recognition to homosexual couples, in the criminal compensation scheme.

Speaking today the Director of The Christian Institute, Colin Hart, said: "Homosexual couples comprise only 0.1% of all households, according to the Government's own general household survey. The law has recognised heterosexual marriage because of its importance to the whole of society. Marriage is the basis of stable family life; even the Home Secretary's own Green Paper on the family recognised this. The State's recognition of marriage is based on biology, not ideology. Extending to homosexual couples the rights that apply to married couples will profoundly undermine marriage.

Already the Home Secretary has decided to recognise homosexual couples in the immigration system, now it is to be extended to the criminal compensation scheme. Payouts to gay couples are wrong.

The criminal compensation scheme has been extended to co-habitating heterosexual couples. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this, it could at least be defended on the basis that there may be dependants in the household. This does not apply to homosexual couples, unless the Home Secretary is seriously considering 'state support for homosexual families'. It is well known that double income homosexual couples can be relatively high-income households.

I am not surprised that homosexual rights groups are delighted by the report of this Government proposal. There is a ratchet effect, whereby changes in one area of law to give rights to homosexuals are used to argue for further changes in other areas of law. If the Government goes down this road it will not be very long before there is a serious attempt to recognise same sex unions as marriages."

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