May: Britain to grant civil partnerships to heterosexual couples

London (dpa) - Britain will amend the law to grant heterosexual couples equal rights with same-sex couples to a civil partnership, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday after a landmark court ruling in June."This change in the law helps protect the interests of opposite-sex couples who want to commit, want to formalize their relationship but don‘t necessarily want to get married," May said in a statement during an annual conference of her ruling Conservative party.The change will ensure that "all couples, be they same-sex or opposite-sex, are given the same choices in life," she said.The Supreme Court ruled in June that the government‘s treatment of Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan - who launched a bid to be allowed to have a civil partnership - was incompatible with human rights law."Wonderful news," Keidan tweeted, thanking equalities minister Penny Mordaunt "for her commitment" to extending civil partnerships."We literally can‘t wait," Steinfeld tweeted. "Please set your date to legislate, so we can set our dates to celebrate!" The five Supreme Court judges said the government had declined to amend or abolish the Civil Partnership Act 2004 when it introduced a law in 2013 to allow the marriage of same-sex couples.They noted that Steinfeld, 37, and Keidan, 41, had "genuine ideological objections to marriage based upon what they consider to be its historically patriarchal nature."The couple‘s lawyer, Louise Whitfield, said the court had been clear that "the government‘s failure to act was unlawful and discriminated against my clients."