ABSTRACT
By 2004, much had changed. The Civil Partnership Act was enacted by Parliament, with overwhelming support, including from most of the Conservative front benches. Even opponents of the Act seemed to accept that lesbian and gay people form loving relationships that deserve respect and protection from a range of injustices. For the government, the Act represents the culmination of the quest for equality, creating a legal status for same-sex couples from which most of the benefits (and responsibilities) of marriage will flow. Lesbian and gay partnership is no longer, then, a pretend family form. Rather, it is a form of family warranting equal respect and dignity because of its value to individuals and to society. For those who have lived through the previous two decades, it is quite a remarkable journey from pretend family to civil partnership. The purpose of this chapter is to consider critically where that journey has now brought lesbians and gay men in Britain, and whether we reached quite the destination at which we hoped our journey would end.
