Same-sex marriage

From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

Same-sex marriage is a term for a relationship in which two people of the same sex live together as a family in a governmentally, socially, or religiously recognized marriage.

Other terms for this type of relationship include "gay marriage", "gender-neutral marriage", "equal marriage", "lesbian marriage", "same-sex civil marriage", "marriage equality", "homosexual marriage", "single-sex marriage", "same-gender marriage", or just simply "marriage".

Contents 1 Current status 1.1 Civil unions 2 Controversy 3 Other websites 4 Bibliography

[change] Current status

Marriage by the civil law is presently available to same-sex couples in five jurisdictions. The Netherlands was the first country to allow same-sex marriage in 2001. Same-sex marriages are also recognized in Belgium, Spain, Canada and South Africa.

[change] Civil unions

The first same-sex union in modern history was recognized by the government in Denmark in 1989.

Civil unions, civil partnership, domestic partnership, unregistered partnership/unregistered co-habitation or registered partnerships offer some of the benefits of marriage and are available in: Andorra, Australia (except Commonwealth law), Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary (unregisterd co-habitation since 1996; registered partnership from 2009), Iceland, Israel, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. They are also available in some parts of Argentina, Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul), Mexico, the U.S. states of California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Washington state, and the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.).

In the United Kingdom, civil partnerships have identical legal status to a marriage, and partners have all the same benefits and legal rights; ranging from tax exemptions and joint property rights, to next-of-kin status and shared parenting responsibilities. Partnership ceremonies are performed by a marriage registrar in exactly the same manner as a secular civil marriage.

[change] Controversy

The controversy over recognition of same-sex unions as marriages is a small, but very important, part of a larger controversy about the role of government concerning intimate relationships.

[change] Other websites

• LA Weekly feature, "California Supreme Court Set to Consider Gay Marriage", Feb. 2008 by Matthew Fleischer
• Today is Freedom to Marry Day - Just Don't Say "Gay Marriage"!, Evan Wolfson, Huffington Post, February 12, 2008.

[change] Bibliography