It may surprise some people to know that in England and Wales over a million people a year attend a humanist ceremony of some kind, be it a funeral, wedding, or naming.
For me one the greatest privileges of my time as President of the BHA has been meeting people who have benefitted from a humanist ceremony and hearing from them how powerful and meaningful it was for them and their loved ones. Having attended some humanist ceremonies myself ceremonies as well as having met hundreds of excellent humanist celebrants, it comes as no surprise to me that our services are held in such high regard. In fact, over 95% of our ceremonies are rated as excellent, and they are attended by hundreds of thousands of people each year.
This is one the many reasons that I believe, along with thousands of people across the country, that humanist marriages should be given legal recognition and that the time for that to happen is now.
Presently, only religious couples in England and Wales can benefit from being married by a representative of their beliefs – which is really just a way of saying someone who shares their values, their outlook, and their perspective on life. Humanists are free to conduct wedding ceremonies but, frustratingly, these must have their legal formalities processed at a register office separately. This legal restriction unfairly excludes people with non-religious, humanist beliefs from one of society’s most rich and rewarding experiences – from having the a legally recognised and authentic marriage ceremony.
When debated during the Marriage Act (2013) there was strong support from both Houses of Parliament and in a recent Government consultation, 95% of respondents said they favoured legalising humanist marriages.
Internationally, non-religious people in many other countries – from Australia to Norway – already enjoy the option of having a humanist marriage. And they’re already been legal in Scotland for more than a decade – since 2005 – in which time they’re steadily grown in popularity. In fact, demand for humanist wedding ceremonies is so great that they have become the second most popular form of belief-based marriage in the whole country. The impact of this has been significant; its effects include revitalising marriage in Scotland and giving a significant boost to the national economy.
Marriages are worth £10 billion to the UK economy each year, and it is worth the Government thinking carefully about the positive impact which legal humanist marriages in England and Wales would have on small businesses.
The introduction of a legal humanist marriages in Scotland coincided with a net increase in marriages amid a trend of general decline. I believe that this is because more couples were suddenly able to hold a ceremony involving their values, beliefs and individual contribution.
After all, marriage lends stability to a relationship, but a marriage ceremony is more than a legal occasion. It is a celebration of a couple, their love, and their commitment to each other. What humanists are asking for today is simply a measure of equality and a right that their religious friends and neighbours already enjoy: to be able to enjoy a ceremony where they are legally married by a person who shares their ideals and beliefs – rather than an impersonal registrar. Ask anyone who’s been to one – humanist weddings are personal, beautiful, and so intrinsically, emphatically humanist. They are not simply a register office ceremonies ‘with some added poetry’.
More than this, marriage is also an important source of stability for many families. Is it not right that diverse sorts of families should benefit from it equally? Our Government has claimed it wants to keep the benefit of the family unit in mind in all its policies. Legalising humanist marriage is not only consistent with our Government’s own commitment to strengthening the family unit, it is perhaps the most powerful contribution it could make towards the family in this Parliament. I firmly believe that it is now time for the Government to act on this issue with ultimately is popular, easy to introduce and good for the economy, marriage, and most importantly, families.