Lesbian News Reader Jane Hill To Marry

Popular BBC Newsreader Jane Hill has confirmed  on Twitter that she will enter into a civil partnership with her partner, Sara.

Hill, 42, who came out publicly in 2009, has worked as a newsreader on the BBC’s 24-hour channel for 14 years and also continues to present broadcasts on BBC One

She wrote on Twitter: “Yes, Sara & I are getting hitched.”

She added: “Still a bit shocked I think! (and hungover).”

The Telegraph drew consternation from some quarters by including quotation marks in its headline “BBC newsreader Jane Hill is to ‘marry’ a woman cameraman”.

The paper’s celebrity news section said: “Having “outed” herself as homosexual in the BBC’s staff magazine, Jane Hill has now accepted a “marriage” proposal.

“The newsreader is to enter into a civil partnership with her girlfriend, Sara, a television cameraman.”     Jane Hill has received a large number of positive messages, some have questioned the Telegraph’s use of punctuation in its story.

One Twitter user claimed the Telegraph was bigoted, Hill said: “A number of us thought that about the inverted commas”.

To another message, she replied: “Let’s just say you are far from the only person who has responded that way, so we should take heart from that.”

On the subject of generally referring to civil partnerships as marriages, Peter Tatchell said: “Civil partnerships are not marriages and they are not equality. They were set up, in part, to thwart the campaign for the legalisation of same-sex marriage.

“They are not recognised as marriages in UK law, nor in any other country. While we wish civil partners every happiness, it is not appropriate to misname civil partnerships as marriages.” 

Whilst we respect Veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell's right to hold that view,  we think he does a great disservice to the whole gay community in rubbishing civil partnerships in this way.  He is basically telling the thousands of couples who have enjoyed civil partnerships that it's ridiculous and  worthless, it is both insulting and smacks of snobbery.  To almost all those that have entered into a civil partnership they have classed it as a marriage, for it is exactly the same in almost all respects other than name.   We congratulate Jane and her partner and which them a very happy married life together! 

We do support the fight for equality,  for allowing same sex marriage as law, yet in no way would we trash and insult those who have taken advantage of the civil partnership law.