Couples Plan Challenge to U.K. Marriage Ban

Sharon Ferguson and Franka Strietzel, who were refused a marriage license at Greenwich Town Hall in London, plan to go to court to obtain one in a coordinated effort with other couples.

According to the BBC, Ferguson and Strietzel are part of an effort coordinated by international human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who is helping to launch similar actions by seven other couples, gay and straight.

"Four homosexual and four heterosexual couples are uniting for the attempt to overturn the law," reports the BBC.

Robert Wintemute, a professor of human rights law at King's College London, will represent the campaign in court next year.

In the U.K., straight couples can marry, and same-sex couples can enter into civil partnerships, which offer equal legal treatment in matters such as inheritances and next-of-kin arrangements.