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

[trialia]

Unfortunately, no. There has to be a civil ceremony at the register office, separately...

[almostwitty]

That makes no sense at all. *befuddled*

Does that mean that civil partnerships can only be performed in registry offices? Because marriages seem to be able to be performed anywhere that has a license...

[trialia]

Basically, a civil partnership ceremony is not legally allowed to have any religious content. Not even if your faith allows and welcomes and would bless same-sex marriages, like mine.

Newington Green Unitarian Church has actually decided not to perform heterosexual wedding ceremonies until the ban is lifted, you can see the BBC article about it here (and if you want to ask any questions, I would refer you to @apakula on Twitter, I'm sure Andy would be happy to talk about it).

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

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