Home > News > Nia speaks up for humanist weddings and same-sex pension equality

Local politicians show support for the LGBT community at Swansea Pride this year

Nia has spoken up in the debate on the same sex marriage bill which was going through its final parliamentary stages this week. She spoke in particular to two groups of amendments, one on legalising humanist weddings, and the other on equality of survivor benefits for same-sex couples. Speaking in the House of commons, Nia said,

“It is very important that we should not in any way delay this important bill on same-sex marriage, but these two sets of amendments pave the way for further reform. The first are about making humanists marriage ceremonies legal as they already are in Scotland, and the second group of amendments set up a review into pension rights and survivor benefits for same-sex couples. This is a complex issue, and wildly different estimates have been made of the costs involved, but it is an essential step forward for equality, though no mention seems to have been made of the fact that some of it will be paid back in tax anyway. There is an important principle here: people pay in the same contributions so therefore survivor benefits should be the same for same-sex partners as for opposite sex spouses.”