Ivan Middleton

The Humanist Society of Scotland was prominently featured in the UK media following their success in getting Humanist Wedding ceremonies legally recognised in Scotland. Ivan Middleton, who performed the first wedding ceremony, writes about the work that went into achieving this legal recognition for non-religious wedding ceremonies.

Campaigning Against Discrimination

On 18th June 2005 I conducted the first legal Humanist Marriage ceremony to take place in the British Isles. This was the culmination of a campaign which had started 19 years earlier following the first Humanist Wedding in Scotland. This couple and hundreds more who followed had to arrange to have a Civil ceremony as well to make their marriage legal.

The Humanist Society of Scotland had argued that couples who wanted to have Humanist marriages were being discriminated against. We presented a petition to the Scottish Parliament in 2001 but whilst the Parliamentarians appeared sympathetic the lawyers assured them no action was necessary.

European Human Rights Act

We then embarked upon a series of meetings with the Registrar General. These took place over a few years. Our argument to him, as it had been to the Scottish Parliament, was that it was now unlawful under the European Human Rights Act to discriminate against any one on the grounds of their religion or belief. The Registrar General had promised to review our arguments and we had provided him with statistics showing that we were performing about 100 weddings a year.

At our meeting with him in April we were delighted when he told us that his review had led him to the conclusion that our argument was correct and to prevent any further discrimination he was prepared to authorize 12 Humanist Celebrants to solemnize marriages throughout Scotland. His thinking had been in part influenced by a House of Lords decision which had set out new guidelines on how this clause should be interpreted.

Training Celebrants

We then set about arranging an induction course for our 12 most experienced and geographically located celebrants. Two of us have conducted about 200 weddings between us and I had been a supply Registrar for nearly three years. We facilitated this course and had a senior manager from the Registrar General's Office explain to us the legal niceties involved. We are able to keep to our pattern of encouraging the couple to be creative in writing their own vows and indeed as much of their wedding script as they wish. The only new legal requirement is that we must formally ask each whether they are prepared to accept the other as their lawfully wedded husband/wife. Then we declare them husband and wife before signing with them and their witnesses the Marriage Schedule. This has to be done using a black pen as this schedule is kept in an archive. The couple later receive their Marriage Certificate.

The first couple to be married in a legal Humanist ceremony were both delightful young people, Karen came from County Clare and Martin from Holland. We had issued a Press Release and just about every paper in the British Isles, one from New York and one from South America all took up the story in a very positive way. Radio broadcasts and television interviews with Karen, Martin and myself followed.

We are delighted for all Humanist couples who choose to be married in Scotland as they can now celebrate their love and commitment in a way of their choosing.

Ivan Middleton is Secretary of the IHEU Member Organisation Humanist Society of Scotland.