The expert speaks

A good start to 2008's shortest month - a nice quote from me in The Observer:

Figures from the Office for National Statistics confirm the downward trend. They show that while 16,100 couples formed a civil partnership in the UK in 2006, at an average of 4,000 every three months, just 4,060 did so in the first half of last year. 'One reason for the decline may be that some gay people aren't interested in formalising their relationship,' said Tony Grew, editor of the pinknews.co.uk website. 'Some don't want to have all the formality of a civil partnership because they think it's the death knell of a relationship.'

Some highly political gays, such as activist Peter Tatchell, see civil partnerships as part of a process of 'assimilation' or integration into wider society that they reject in favour of a proudly 'queer' lifestyle. Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the gay rights lobby group Stonewall, said: 'There was a big pent-up demand from couples in long-term relationships to form a civil partnership, which is why so many did it early on after the law changed in late 2005, so a tailing-off would be logical.'

Summerskill pointed out that when civil partnerships were introduced the government predicted that about 11,000 to 22,000 would take place by 2010. 'But we have already far exceeded that number,' he added. There were 1,950 in December 2005, then 16,100 during 2006, and more than 4,000 in the first half of last year, according to the Office of National Statistics.

Grew said that the low rate so far of gay divorce - known as 'dissolution' of a civil partnership - and the long time spent together by many couples who form one, 'shows that gay people are treating them with due solemnity and respect. Generally, they take them more seriously than many people who get married. The people who go for it are older, have been together longer and have more committed relationships. That's why we won't see the 40 per cent or 50 per cent divorce rates we see in heterosexual marriages,' he said.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2251581,00.html