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Elton John talks gay marriage
Elton John
ââ¬ËIf gay people want to get married, they should have a civil partnership.ââ¬â¢
"I don't want to be married. I'm very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership."
Elton John has said that he believes same-sex couples should be happy with civil unions and not push for the right to marry.
The star, who entered into a civil partnership with Canadian-born partner David Furnish, in 2005 said:
“I don't want to be married. I'm very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership. The word "marriage," I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships.”
The comments, made by the musician before his annual Elton John AIDS Foundation dinner, are now being used on Yes-on-8 publicity, which supports Proposition 8.
Proposition 8, which bans the right to same-sex marriage in the state of California, was passed this earlier this month. In the UK both same-sex and opposite-sex couples can enter into civil unions, and they are granted all the rights of marriage. However, in California only same-sex couples have the right to a civil union and they don’t share the same rights as a married couple.
It is not the first time Elton John has caused controversy with the gay community. He performed a duet at the 2001 Grammy awards with hip-hop star Eminem, whose lyrics are notoriously homophobic.
Elton is said to be currently penning a musical with comedy actor/director Ben Stiller about AIDS. He told GQ more about the narrative, which features a Broadway star "who is gay, has HIV and Aids, and has to go back and face his wife and his kids that he left… It's very funny."
Despite the obviously controversial nature of the musical, Elton John is a passionate campaigner for AIDS awareness. Since establishing the Elton John Aids Foundation in 1992, he has raised over £92m under its auspices to support HIV-prevention programmes around the world.
Elton John has been openly gay since his divorce from Renate Blauel in the 1980s.
