Philip Hensher: A long-awaited step towards equality

It was a shame that Barbara Roche, the minister in charge of proposals to register gay partnerships, should have been so much on the defensive in announcing it.

This, she insisted, had nothing to do with "political correctness". Indeed not, and it is astonishing that anyone should have thought otherwise. This will transform people's lives. It is a civilised and decent step.

The proposal is to allow gay people to register their partnerships formally, giving their relationship a legal basis. Homosexuals may nominate their partners as next-of-kin, which brings with it all sorts of rights that heterosexual married couples take for granted. So much so that it is not widely understood how difficult the lack of legal status of such relationships can make people's lives.

For instance, if your partner is taken seriously ill, you have no right to be consulted, or even admitted to hospital. If your partner should die, you have no standing whatsoever on the basis of your relationship. If your partner is not British and wishes to live here permanently, then your relationship may be taken into account by the immigration authorities, but there is no firm legal basis, merely anecdotal assurances, which may be accepted – or may not be.

In the last resort, your blood relations have more authority over your affairs than your life partner. Tragic cases result from this. If a family rejects a child on the basis of his homosexuality and shuns him for 20 years, they would nevertheless have more say in his affairs in the event of his death than the man who had lived with him during the same period. In such circumstances, people not unnaturally conclude that their lives are considered worthless – not just by society, but by the rule of law itself.

It happens. A friend of mine lived happily with a man for a decade before his partner died. His partner's family allowed him no access during the final stages of illness or any say in the funeral arrangements. Returning from the funeral, he was handed a solicitor's letter of eviction from the house they had shared; his possessions were destroyed or dumped by the family, and he was left homeless a week after his bereavement. There was no legal recourse.

The problem with establishing a legal status for such relationships has always been that it looks like an assault on the institution of "marriage". Marriage has a particular religious and cultural status, which permits such proposals to be analysed from an inappropriate ethical standpoint.

The proposed measure offers a means by which commitment can be recognised, without having to ask bishops whether they approve or not. Those who take advantage of it will find that their lives are immensely improved; no one, and nothing, will be damaged by such a change.

One can only wonderwhy such a step was not taken many years ago.