Difference between revisions of "Marriage equality"
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[[File:World homosexuality laws.svg|thumb|402px|<table class="description en" lang="en" style="margin:0.5em auto;width:100%;border:1px solid #ABD5F5;background:white" xml:lang="en"> | [[File:World homosexuality laws.svg|thumb|402px|<table class="description en" lang="en" style="margin:0.5em auto;width:100%;border:1px solid #ABD5F5;background:white" xml:lang="en"> | ||
| − | <caption align="center"> | + | <caption align="center">Laws regarding same-sex sexuality</caption> |
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<p><b>Homosexuality legal</b></p> | <p><b>Homosexuality legal</b></p> | ||
<div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #002255;"> </span></span>  Same-sex marriage<sup>1</sup></div> | <div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #002255;"> </span></span>  Same-sex marriage<sup>1</sup></div> | ||
| − | <div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #0066FF;"> </span></span>  Other type of partnership | + | <div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #0066FF;"> </span></span>  Other type of partnership<sup>1, 2</sup></div> |
<div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #00FFDE;"> </span></span>  Foreign same-sex marriages recognized<sup>1</sup></div> | <div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #00FFDE;"> </span></span>  Foreign same-sex marriages recognized<sup>1</sup></div> | ||
<div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #CCCCCC;"> </span></span>  No recognition of same-sex couples</div> | <div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #CCCCCC;"> </span></span>  No recognition of same-sex couples</div> | ||
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<div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #ec8028;"> </span></span>  Heavy penalty</div> | <div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #ec8028;"> </span></span>  Heavy penalty</div> | ||
<div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #e73e21;"> </span></span>  Up to life in prison</div> | <div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #e73e21;"> </span></span>  Up to life in prison</div> | ||
| − | <div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #800000;"> </span></span>  Up to death | + | <div style="direction:ltr;"><span style="width: 2.8em; display: inline-block; text-align: center;"><span style="width: 2.4em; display: inline-block; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #808080; background-color: #800000;"> </span></span>  Up to death</div> |
</td> | </td> | ||
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</table> | </table> | ||
<p>Rings indicate areas where local judges have granted marriage or imposed the death penalty in a country where that is not otherwise the law.</p> | <p>Rings indicate areas where local judges have granted marriage or imposed the death penalty in a country where that is not otherwise the law.</p> | ||
| − | <p><sup>1</sup>May include recent laws or court decisions which have created legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but which have not | + | <p><sup>1</sup>May include recent laws or court decisions which have created legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but which have not yet come into force.</p> |
| + | <p><sup>2</sup>Or unregistered cohabitation.</p> | ||
</td> | </td> | ||
</tr> | </tr> | ||
Revision as of 10:54, 23 May 2012
Rings indicate areas where local judges have granted marriage or imposed the death penalty in a country where that is not otherwise the law. 1May include recent laws or court decisions which have created legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but which have not yet come into force. 2Or unregistered cohabitation. |
Contents
Partnership registrations
In response for the growing call for some form of recognition of same-sex relationships, the then Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone introduced the London Partnership Register in 2001. This enabled same-sex couples to have a degree of recognition by an official body of their relationship, but had no legal force. It was open to opposite-sex as well as same-sex couples. Similar registers were set up in other places in the UK. The success of the London Partnership Register, and the lack of any public outcry against it, is thought to have paved the way for the introduction of civil partnerships.
Civil partnerships
Civil partnerships were introduced by the Labour Government under the Civil Partnership Act 2004. The first civil partnerships were formed in December 2005. Civil partnerships were essentially designed to parallel civil (as opposed to religious) marriage, hence the prohibion on holding a civil partnership ceremony on religious premises (this ban has since been removed) or on including any religious element in the ceremony.
One difference from civil marriage as that sex is not mentioned in the law. A marriage can be annulled if it's not consummated (ie if the couple don't have sex together) and one of the ground for divorce is adultery (ie if one of the couple has sex with someone else): there's no equivalent for either of these in the case of civil partnerships. As a result the Church of England, which officially disapproves its clergy having homosexual relationships, has not banned its priests from entering into civil partnerships, on the grounds that they can do so and still remain sexually celibate.
