civil partnerships
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Monday, December 21st, 2009
Today marks the fourth anniversary of civil partnerships in England and Wales. Although Scotland celebrated its first civil partnership on December 20th 2005 due to a misunderstanding over the date, today marks the fourth anniversary for gay couples in England and Wales.
The very first to take place was on December 4th 2005, for a gay couple where one partner was terminally ill.
Four years ago today, three couples simultaneously tied the knot at 8am in Brighton – the exact time the legislation came into effect. The first three couples were Rev Debbie Gaston and Elaine Gaston, Gino Meriano and Mike Ullett and Roger Lewis and his partner Keith Willmott-Goodall.
Full Story from Pink News: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/12/21/happy-fourth-anniversary-for-civil-partnerships/
Click here for gay marriage resources in England.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in civil partnerships, england, fourth anniversary, Gay Marriage, scotland, uk, united kingdom, wales | No Responses »
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Landmark legislation on same-sex registered partnerships in Catholic Austria is an example that politicians in Eastern Europe’s Catholic countries should now follow, gay rights groups in the region say. The legislation, which was passed by lawmakers last week, gives legal recognition to same sex couples’ partnerships as well as many of the rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples such as access to pension on the death of a partner and alimony if a pair separates.
Austrian gay rights groups hailed the legislation as the work of more than two decades of lobbying, while politicians who backed the law, due to come into effect Jan. 1 next year, described it as a “step forward” for the country.
Campaigners in Catholic Eastern European states say the decision shows that politicians’ use of religious arguments against same sex marriages is unfounded.
Full Story from IPS News: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49724
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in austria, civil partnerships, january 1st, recognition | No Responses »
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Gordon Brown is pushing for British civil partnerships to be recognised across the EU – including Eastern Europe, he has told Attitude magazine. The prime minister said Britain was negotiating deals with France and Spain but wanted to “go further than that”.
He told the gay lifestyle magazine it was important to show “respect for gay people was due” in “Eastern Europe as well as Western Europe”. But he predicted it would take “many years” for this to happen.
Campaigners have been pushing for people who have undergone a civil partnership to be granted the same legal status and rights they enjoy in the UK in every other EU country.
Full Story from B92: http://www.b92.net/eng/news/world-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=12&dd=17&nav_id=63833
Click here for gay marriage resources in England.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in civil partnerships, europe, gordon brown, pm, prime minister, recognition, uk, united kingdom | No Responses »
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
The Evangelical Alliance Ireland has urged Christians to back the Civil Partnership Bill, which would introduce legal recognition of same-sex relationships in the Republic of Ireland. The Alliance’s stance on the issue is likely to win praise for its courage, as well as criticism from those who expect evangelicals to oppose gay people’s rights.
“We suggest that evangelical Christians should support the basic thrust of the Bill,” said the Evangelical Alliance Ireland in a statement signed by its General Director, Sean Mullan.
It goes on to say, “We may disagree on the detail of the legislation, but as followers of a just and compassionate God we can recognise the justice and fairness of providing some legal protection for the reality of both same-sex and opposite-sex cohabiting relationships”.
Full Story from Spero News: http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=124&id=24032&t=Irish+Evangelicals+support+Gay+marriage
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in civil partnerships, evangelical alliance ireland, ireland, irish evangelical group, supports | No Responses »
Thursday, November 26th, 2009
FAMILY First senator Steve Fielding has compared same-sex marriages to incest, as a Senate inquiry yesterday recommended against allowing gay marriage in Australia. A day after the first legally recognised same-sex civil ceremony in Canberra, Senator Fielding spoke out against allowing gay couples to wed.
”A bloke cannot marry his brother; it is not right,” he said. ”A woman cannot marry their sister; it is not right. A bloke cannot marry a bloke because it is not right, and a female cannot marry a female because it is not right. I don’t support this.” Labor senator Joe Ludwig reiterated the Rudd Government’s stance that gay relationships should be recognised across the nation in civil partnership schemes and not with marriage.
But Greens leader Bob Brown said the Government was made up of ”undemocratic wowsers” and ”sad sacks” who wanted to override the Australian Capital Territory laws allowing gay couples to hold a ceremony to create their legal relationship.
Full Story from The Age: http://www.theage.com.au/national/fielding-likens-samesex-marriage-to-incest-20091126-juo3.html
Click here for gay marriage resources in Australia.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in act, australia, civil partnerships, Gay Marriage, senator steve fielding | No Responses »
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
In the latest challenge to what many see as unfair and restrictive marriage laws in Britain, a straight couple are attempting to register for a civil partnership.
The couple, Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle, say that it is unfair that different-sex couples may enter into a civil marriage but not a civil partnership, while same-sex couples may have a civil partnership but not a legal marriage.
The news follows a series of other challenges to the UK’s marriage laws. In July, British Quakers agreed to lobby for a change in the law to allow them to carry out same-sex weddings with the same legal recognition as different-sex weddings.
Full Story from Ekklesia: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10592
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in England.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in civil marriage, civil partnerships, england, Gay Marriage, uk, united kingdom | No Responses »
Monday, November 9th, 2009
The Speaker of the House of Commons has said that allowing gay and lesbian couples to hold their civil partnership ceremonies in the Palace of Westminster is a matter of “equity and justice”.
In an exclusive interview with ePolitix.com John Bercow also praised the “passion and conviction” shown by members of the UK Youth Parliament during their debate in the Commons last month.
“So far as civil partnerships are concerned, I feel very strongly that this is a matter of equity and justice,” Mr Speaker said.
Full Story from ePolitix: http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/speaker-backs-civil-partnerships
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in the UK.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in civil partnerships, Gay Marriage, house of commons, speaker, uk, westminsiter | No Responses »
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
When University of Guam student Rose Hermoso began to question why her rights as a heterosexual weren’t shared with other members of the community, she organized a rally.
Hermoso, together with three other University of Guam students, held a peaceful rally last night at the Plaza de España, to support civil rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, community of Guam, she said yesterday.
“They’re not asking for anything other than the same civil rights as the rest of us,” Hermoso said. “We have to do this.”
Full Story from GuamPDN: http://www.guampdn.com/article/20091108/NEWS01/911080313/1002
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in civil partnerships, Gay Marriage, guam, rally, vigil | No Responses »
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Guam’s Alternative Lifestyle Association has introduced an amended version of Bill 185 that they believe not only address the rights of same-sex couples but also takes various concerns into consideration. Guam Youth Congress Speaker Derick Hills worked with others to develop the changes that are based on Nevada’s Domestic Partnership Act.
Such modifications would changing the term “domestic partnership” to “civil partnership”, defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman and stressing that no religious entity is required to solemnize a civil partnership are among the proposed amendments. “The amendments were mirrored after Nevada’s domestic partnership bill,” said Hills.
Full Story from KUAM: http://www.kuam.com/Global/story.asp?S=11455131
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in civil partnerships, Gay Marriage, guam, proposed bill | No Responses »
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
There are only two days remaining to sign a petition to call for civil partnerships to be held in religious buildings.
The Civil Partnerships Act, passed in 2004, currently forbids same-sex ceremonies in buildings designed for religious purposes and states that they can only take place in a register office or approved premises.
However some faith groups have said they would like to perform civil partnership ceremonies on their premises but are unable to due to the law as it stands.
Full Story from Pink News: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/10/28/two-days-left-to-sign-petition-on-religious-civil-partnerships/
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in England.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in civil partnerships, england, petition, religious buildings, uk | No Responses »
