Happy 4th anniversary for UK gay couples

[almostwitty]

From the Pink News:

"The Civil Partnerships Act 2004 gave gay couples all the rights and benefits available to straight married couples.

There are two differences. One is that a civil partnership is formed when the second of the two parties signs the partnership papers, while a marriage happens when the partners exchange spoken words and sign the register."

I'm wondering whether, if you took out the religious element about gay marriages and had gay partnerships instead (with all the other full rights and responsibilities etc.), the gay marriage debate in the US would be a lot less heated, and more likely to pass...

Comments

[far-gone.livejournal.com]

I think there's actually a different starting point in Europe, which has made it all a lot easier. *Everyone* has a civil union that is separate from the religious marriage. So even if you have a "chuch wedding" they stop the service here for your priest-cum-civil servant to serve you the papers, as it were. So from a legal point of view everyone gets the same thing (as I understand it) and from a religous point of view, you fend for yourself.