Civil Partnerships Down in the UK as Couples Wait for Marriage Recognition

The number of civil partnerships in the UK have dropped by 18% this past year, from 8,728 in 2007 to 7,169, but gay rights activist Peter Tatchell told the Guardian that this was to be expected.

Tatchell said: "After civil partnerships were legislated there was a huge surge of couples who had been together for decades who suddenly wished to take advantage of the legal recognition.

"Now we've settled into a pattern of civil partnership take-up which reflects people who have recently fallen in love for the first time."

Tatchell then said that couples are waiting in hopes the law will recognize their relationships as marriages.

"Initially, most were ready to settle for civil partnerships. After years of no legal rights they were desperate to get something.

"Now the mood is shifting in favour of full legal equality – the right to get married in a register office on the same level as heterosexual couples."