what's the state of gay rights/mariiage/civil unions in the UK?

[Bombtrack]

Anyone know?

[Brian_Expat]

1. I know! ;-)

I guess you're looking for a breakdown.

The UK has, since the mid-1990s, recognized gay and heterosexual common-law marriages equally. Gays with foreign partners who lived with their partners for two years get immigration visas for their partners for permanent residence and eventual citizenship.

Gay partners can claim each other as dependents, collect on pensions, inherit and transfer assets without taxes, and are generally treated as spouses.

There is a civil domestic partnership law being considered by Tony Blair's government. It will probably pass in June, since it has strong support from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and even the Tories! It will create a DP registry for all couples, regardless of relationships, that will allow individuals to gain all rights of marriage immediately upon registry and will send all breakups to good ol' divorce court. Immigration will be possible immediately after a relationship is registered, assuming a de facto relationship.

When the marriage registry law expires, most people expect the new civil partnership registry to take over from the existing marriage registry. In other words, marriage will be a religious-only thing.

[janx]

3. Brian, I just sent you a PM...

[Uzybone]

6. so do gays get married..

in the UK? Not common-law, I mean marriage.

[Brian_Expat]

7. Not today.

In June (assuming the legislation passes, which seems virtually certain), we'll be able to get civilly married, with all the associated benefits and obligations.

After two years' cohabitation in a relationship, you are considered "married" by the Crown whether you intend to or not, regardless of gender, so it's a bit stronger than "common law" in the US sense.

There's a green paper on the Internet about the law, I will track it down and post it. A "Green paper" is a Crown study in Parliament of the effects of a law. The strong Tory support is surprising, especially compared to how Republicans are dealing with things in the USA!

[Paradise]

8. sooo, i may not be so dumb after all...

you go to city hall, now, for a license? isn't that a CIVIL union, and isn't that, or shouldn't that be, for ALL?
and, then...
depending upon the parties (if desired), and their religious institutions (if any, and if performed), comes marriage?

hey, wait a minute, didn't i just expound on the 'separation of church and state'? :shrug:

[Brian_Expat]

9. That's pretty much the deal in the UK

The big difference being, the UK isn't a very religious society. Churches here don't have many attendees, and even immigrants from Muslim societies "dereligify" after a generation or so. Hence, it's all about civil recognition here (as it should be).

[Paradise]

11. i love you uk guys ,

and i'm not even gay. of course, i'm not religious, either.
did i just alienate a whole bunch of people??? :headbang:

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

2. Labour's seeking to introduce

equal rights legislation for 'civil unions' which the Tories have recently said that they support (though whether it will get through the Lords is another matter).

It's not an issue I'm particularly familar with though, so I don't know the details of the proposals.

[Brian_Expat]

4. The legislation has to get through the House of Lords. . .

. . . because the European Court will rule very unfavourably against the UK if it doesn't get its partnership laws in order. This is one reason why there's so much agreement around this law.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

5. Thanks for the info - here & in above post nt

[Brian_Expat]

10. Here's a link to the Green Paper as promised

This is a PDF document that includes responses from various constituencies. In general, the mood is quite positive (except from a few loonies who have no power). Virtually everyone agrees that this is the right way to go.

http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/publications/CP_responses.pdf

Note this on one page:

The Government has no plans to allow same-sex couples to marry. The
proposals are for an entirely new legal status of civil partnership.
Same-sex partnership registration schemes already operate alongside
opposite-sex marriage in some other countries.

Since the publishing of the paper, this has been resolved. The civil partnership laws will be for any gender mix of couple, hetero or homo, and will operate alongside marriage. It's expected that registered marriages will eventually end over time, with marriage being a religious ceremony. Pretty fast-moving, sorry I have not provided the most "up to date document," but I cannot find an electronic version.