ELTON JOHN: CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

Pop icon Elton John, who has been in a civil partnership for almost seven years, says he wants the right to be married just like heterosexual people in the UK.

John entered into a civil partnership with David Furnish on 21 December 2005, the first day that gay couples in Britain were allowed to obtain a civil partnership.

The two began their relationship in 1993 and are raising a son, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, who was born to a surrogate mother on 25 December 2010.

“I know a lot of people will say we should count ourselves lucky to live in a country that allows civil partnerships, and call it quits there. I don’t accept that,” wrote John in a column for the Independent.

“…there is a world of difference between calling someone your ‘partner’ and calling them your ‘husband’. ‘Partner’ is a word that should be preserved for people you play tennis with, or work alongside in business.

“It doesn’t come close to describing the love that I have for David, and he for me. In contrast, ‘husband’ does. A ‘husband’ is somebody that you cherish forever, that you would give up everything for, that you love in sickness and in health.

“Until the law recognises David Furnish is my husband, and not merely my partner, the law won’t describe the man I know and adore.”

John asked: “Wouldn’t it be a huge source of national pride if we led, rather than just followed, the currents of history, and became one of the first countries in the world to say being married isn’t about whether you’re straight or gay, but about whether you’re human?”

The star has put his name behind a petition calling for the British government to grant gay and lesbian couples full marriage equality.

“If we legalise gay marriage in Britain, you can bet your last penny that I’ll be pushing to call [David] my husband at the first opportunity – though whether he or I go down on one knee is a matter for negotiation!” commented the singer.