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Archive Version of
Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Couples Online from 1995-2022 Demian and Steve Bryant originally founded Partners as a monthly newsletter in 1986. By late 1990 it was reformatted into a bi-monthly magazine. Print publication was halted by 1995 when Demian published Partners as a Web site, which greatly expanded readership. In 1988, the Partners National Survey of Lesbian & Gay Couples report was published; the first major U.S. survey on same-sex couples in a decade. In 1996, Demian produced The Right to Marry, a video documentary based on the dire need for equality that was made clear by the data from the survey mentioned above. The video featured interviews with Rev. Mel White, Evan Wolfson, Phyllis Burke, Richard Mohr, Kevin Cathcart, Faygele benMiriam, Benjamin Cable-McCarthy, Susan Reardon, Frances Fuchs, Tina Podlodowski, and Chelle Mileur. Demian has been the sole operator during the last two decades of Partners. Demian stopped work on Partners Task Force in order to realize his other time-consuming projects, which include publishing the book “Operating Manual for Same-Sex Couples: Navigating the rules, rites & rights” - which is now available on Amazon. The book is based on the Partners Survey mentioned above, his interviews of scores of couples, and 36 years of writing hundreds of articles about same-sex couples. It’s also been informed by his personal experience in a 20-year, same-sex relationship. Demian’s other project is to publish his “Photo Stories by Demian” books based on his more than six decades as a photographer and writer. |
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“Civil Partnerships” were instituted in Great Britain on November 19, 2004. The “Civil Partnership Act” came into effect on December 5, 2005. It is only available to same-sex couples. The first partnerships took place after the 15-day waiting period had passed.
The partnership law is available in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. British gay men and lesbians living in Australia can take advantage of the status at the consulates without having to fly home to access it.
It may be possible for couples to register at a U.K. consulate in another country if one of them is a U.K. national. However, U.K. consulates will not register civil partnerships if the host country objects, or if a civil union or same-sex marriage is available in that country. Couples should contact the Embassy or High Commission of their country of residence. Couples may be asked to obtain a “no impediment” certificate. Foreign Nationals
Individuals who are not British citizens, EEA nationals or permanent residents must obtain permission before they can register a CP in the UK. For those who are currently in the UK, this permission is obtained from the Home office and is called a “certificate of approval.” For those outside the UK, this permission is given in a proposed civil partnership visa or a civil partnership visit visa.
Edward Leigh, and other Tory backbenchers, attempted to scuttle the pro-gay bill by expanding it to give siblings who cohabit the same rights as same-sex couples. These tactics came under sustained criticism from MPs on all sides during the debates on the bill in early November 2004. Senior Conservative backbencher Baroness O’Cathain similarly attempted to widen the bill. She argued that the bill was discriminatory because it would give inheritance and capital gains tax advantages to same-sex couples that were not available to siblings, parents, and children over 18 who looked after each other. Conservative former Cabinet Minister Lord Tebbit asked the Government “that it will state that it will not make any change to subsequent Budgets to the requirements for inheritance tax, in consequence of this Bill.” But Home Office Minister Baroness Scotland of Asthal insisted that if the amendment was passed, it would wreck the bill. She clarified her position by telling peers “there is a clear distinction between these provisions and those of marriage. To ask for this bill to be postponed because we cannot deal with the issues would be to perpetuate injustice.” When asked by Lord Tebbit for a clear explanation of the distinction between civil partnerships as envisaged in the bill and civil marriage, Lady Scotland repled: “One of the differences is consummation. In relation to marriage, for a marriage to be valid it has to be consummated by one man and one woman and there is a great deal of jurisprudence which tells you exactly what consummation amounts to, partial, impartial, penetration, no penetration. “If you wish me to give a dissertation on family law I would be happy to do so. There is no provision for consummation in the Civil Partnerships Bill. We do not look at the nature of the sexual relationship, it is totally different in nature.” Lord Tebbit inquired that if there was no question of consummation in a civil partnership, why couldn’t it be extended to people who have a close family relationships, such as two homosexual brothers? Lady Scotland replied that it was improper for those related to one another to enter into a relationship, similar to that of marriage. The amendment moved by Lady O’Cathain was defeated by 136-251, Government majority 115. An attempt by Tory MP Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) to introduce rights for siblings also failed in the Commons by 381 votes to 74, majority 307. The “Civil Partnership Act” became law on November 19, 2004, and came into effect on December 5, 2005. On February 21, 2005, Jacqui Smith, the Deputy Minister for Women and Equality, stated: “I know how much this legislation means to a great many same-sex couples across the country who are eager to finally get legal recognition for their relationships. This legislation is going to make a real difference to these couples and it demonstrates the Government’s commitment to equality and social justice.”The Royal Navy has become the first branch of the services to say it will welcome lesbian and gay personnel to stay in family quarters once they have registered their unions. The other branches of the military are expected to follow suit. The navy is also the first to announce an ad campaign to enlist gay and lesbian servicemembers. It has enlisted the help of Stonewall, the civil rights group, to prepare the ads. In addition to the ads, Stonewall will assist the navy in preparing seminars, pamphlets and specific advice for LGBT members of the navy. On September 12, 2005, the Ministry of Defence confirmed that same-sex couples serving in the armed forces will be given married quarters after the institution of civil partnerships.
December 21, 2005 statement from Tony Blair, Prime Minister, United Kingdom: Civil Partnerships became legal in Scotland in December 2005. As of January 31, 2006, same-sex couples formed 3,648 civil partnerships in England and Wales. Of this total, male couples formed 2,510 civil partnerships, and female couples formed 1,138. Brighton and Hove was the Registration Authority where most civil partnerships were formed (126). Second most popular was Westminster (121), followed by Kensington and Chelsea (105). As of mid-June 2006, 6,516 couples in England and Wales, and 350 couples in Scotland, obtained a Civil Partnership. In England and Wales, 4,311 couples were male and 2,205 female. In the first quarter of 2006, a total of 259 partnerships were registered in Scotland. By the end of 2006, it totalled 315. About half of those registering were female. Between December 2005 and September 2006, 15,672 gay and lesbian couples registered as civil partnerships in the UK, according to the Office of Statistics. England staged 84% of all ceremonies, while Northern Ireland held 1%. Men make up 62% of partnerships in England, 57% in Scotland, 56% in Northern Ireland and 51% in Wales. In early December 2006, Peter Tatchell, of OutRage, called on Chancellor Gordon Brown to protect the benefit rights of gay men and lesbians in his pre-Budget report. Rule changes introduced when the Partnership Act became law have resulted in the removal of social security benefits from thousands of same-sex partners who have not, or don’t plan to register in a civil partnership.
The government has hit these couples with the full financial responsibilities that go with civil partnerships, even though the couples are not civil partners, and do not want to be treated as civil partners. Government ministers are refusing to grant benefit claimants in cohabiting same-sex relationships transitional financial protection.
The gay rights group OutRage! has suggested that two people living together and receiving individual government pensions would see their benefits drop by about a third if they were re-categorized as a couple. The group stated on November 7, 2005: “All cohabiting same-sex couples will experience a reduction in state benefits as a side effect of the new Civil Partnership Act. … Even couples who don’t want a civil partnership and have not registered their relationship will face cuts. In addition, same-sex friends or ex-lovers who live together will have to prove that they are not in a relationship — otherwise they, too, will lose out financially. … The pensions and benefits agencies will assume that all cohabitees are partners and cut their benefits accordingly.”
This domestic partnership status does not work as a model for America, because implementing an equivalent legal status to marriage requires duplicating 150-to-350 laws in each state, and more than 1,138 laws on the federal level. [See U.S. Federal Laws for the Legally Married.] The whole idea is completely impractical. Further, domestic partnerships are usually not recognized outside of the issuing state. Because of the lack of portability, they create a patchwork legal status as a couple moves or vacations.
While such contracts are an attempt to create equal treatment, they only reinforce a separate and totally unequal status, one we consider to be a manifestation of apartheid. [See Marrying Apartheid: The Failure of Domestic Partnership Status]
From UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group:
“Civil Partnership Guide” From the official, government Web sites:
“Civil Partnerships - Introduction” - from the General Register Office
“Civil Partnership: Leaflets and Guidance” - from Women and Equality Unit (WEU) For a vast survey, please see our: Legal Marriage Report: Global Status of Legal Marriage
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