Civil Partnerships Bill

[barakta]

I've been reading stuff on BBC news and the Guardian Online as well as the fulltext of /a/ version of the bill but am slightly confused as to what's going on. It's certainly slipped under the radar as there hasn't been much mention on the emaillists and newsgroups I've read

Comments

[barakta]

Thanks for that... So it is more or less what I expected with clarification on the family members bit.

That's good to know, and I look forward to being in a position to take advantage of it.

Natalya

[mistdog]

AIUI, the likely period before it comes into force is 12 months, to give local authorities time to set up their registries.

[barakta]

That makes sense. It's taken this long to get this far, doing it properly and ensuring authorities can handle it is probably worth it.

Natalya

[ex_enprise723]

The thing I wonder is, if there's a religious significance to marriage at all, why is the government involved? Can't it simply confer the benefits of a domestic partnership on those who benefit the society with things like permanence, child rearing, savings, community involvement?

They should all be called civil unions. And if you want something more significant than that--and I think maybe I do--then visit your church or synagogue for matrimonial extras.

[barakta]

Can't it simply confer the benefits of a domestic partnership on those who benefit the society with things like permanence, child rearing, savings, community involvement?

Yep. I agree. This legislation merely brings us in line with EU law and should have been implemented a long time ago. Had it taken much longer same-sex couples would have seriously started taking our Government to the European Courts...

It should end the evil of families interfering with people's private lives and ensure that people are able to choose their partner as next-of-kim etc etc without being worried that courts could overturn it.

Natalya

[kimble]

people are able to choose their partner as next-of-kim etc etc

Aww, sweet. In a typo kind of way.

[kookette]

“Is this what LGBT people in general were wanting”

That sort of depends on who you listen to.

It doesn’t please the vocal activist minority, because it still isn’t equality. Since they know that equality in all things is impossible, they fight for it in order to perpetuate their own existence (and what they perceive as power).

However the vast majority of the gay and lesbian community do not want equality and don’t want to be in an institution called marriage (too many connotations with regard to one partner being the masculine and the other the feminine) .. they simply want equity and that is basically what this bill provides. Yes it is generally what we want and is therefore a cause for great celebration.

Mark