{"id":946,"date":"2010-11-24T16:46:47","date_gmt":"2010-11-24T21:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/?p=946"},"modified":"2016-11-17T08:30:26","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T13:30:26","slug":"lawsuit-by-straight-couples-claiming-discrimination-best-hope-for-marriage-equality-in-the-u-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/lawsuit-by-straight-couples-claiming-discrimination-best-hope-for-marriage-equality-in-the-u-k\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit by straight couples claiming discrimination best hope for marriage equality in the U.K.?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The history of litigation surrounding equality issues often involves the unexpected scenario of rights expansions only occurring when dominant group members claim discrimination under a law. The best example of this is pregnancy leave- women are often not guaranteed sufficient amounts of paid leave to take care of children post-pregnancy. When fathers who wished to stay-at-home with the children after childbirth litigated for paid leave, the courts finally realized that this was an equality issue.<\/p>\n<p>On the gay marriage front, cases like Goodridge (MA case allowing gay marriage) and Perry v. Schwartzenegger (the CA case striking down an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman) have noted that, as with racial discrimination, &#8220;separate is not equal.&#8221; The Courts noted that such laws create a separate institution (Civil unions) for gay people, for the express purpose of denying them the ability to marry based on their choice of partner. Now, a<a class=\"wp-oembed\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-bristol-11821523\"> lawsuit in the U.K. by straight couples who were not allowed to obtain civil unions<\/a> offers a chance to test the theory that courts can only see this type of discrimination when members of the &#8220;in-group&#8221; challenge it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The history of litigation surrounding equality issues often involves the unexpected scenario of rights expansions only occurring when dominant group 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