Tag Archives: civil unions

Greece Considers Civil Unions

Greece is considering a law that will allow gay couples to solemnize their relationships in a civil ceremony, causing outrage within the Greek Orthodox Church. Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki charged that the new law would erode human dignity and “make them equal to animals.” Gays in Greece are banned from military service and only 16% of the nation says they …

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H&R Block: No Online Returns
For Civil Unioned

Via the ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union sent a demand letter to H&R Block today demanding that it change its online tax preparation system to accommodate gay couples in Connecticut with civil unions. The ACLU is representing a couple with a civil union who attempted to file their taxes on the company’s website through their online service, TaxCut Online, …

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Brokeback Mount

Barack Obama told a crowd of supporters yesterday that his support for gay civil unions is based on the Bible’s “Sermon On The Mount.” “I don’t think it [a same-sex union] should be called marriage, but I think that it is a legal right that they should have that is recognized by the state,” said Obama. “If people find that …

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HomoQuotable – Leland Traiman

“Many lesbian/gay organizations claim that state-enacted same-sex marriage is ‘marriage equality’ even though it has no federal marriage rights. They claim that a federal civil union policy, which would include these rights, would not be ‘marriage equality’ because it would not contain the word ‘marriage.’ This places rhetoric over reality. The opposite is true: federal civil unions would be marriage …

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New Jersey’s Civil Unions “Don’t Work”

On the one-year anniversary of civil unions becoming legal in New Jersey, a state commission has released a report saying that civil unions don’t work and that gay couples in Massachusetts don’t have the same legal difficulties faced by those in New Jersey. The commission found that many companies in the state that are self-insured, and thus regulated by federal …

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Civil Unions Begin In New Hampshire

Shortly after midnight on New Year’s Eve, gay couples began being civil-unioned in New Hampshire, as the new state law took effect. New Hampshire’s civil unions law — enacted by the Democrat-dominated Legislature early last year and signed by Democratic Gov. John Lynch in May, gives same sex couples the same rights, responsibilities and obligations of marriage without calling the …

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Australia’s New PM: Civil Unions OK

Newly elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said yesterday that his administration will not interfere with states or territories that move to legalize civil unions for gay couples. The state of Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory are both expected to pass civil union laws early next year. Previous attempts to pass such legislation were thwarted by previous Prime Minister …

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Title: A Pun On Uruguay

The lower house in Uruguay’s legislature approved same-sex civil unions yesterday. With approval from the country’s Senate already in hand, the bill becomes law next month. Uruguay becomes the first Latin American country to approve civil unions nationwide, although similar laws are already in effect in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil.

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Giuliani Wing-Nut Makeover Continues

Failing to reciprocate the love offered last week by Newsday’s bizarre declaration that Rudy Giuliani is the presidential candidate with the best track record on gay rights, “America’s Mayor” is now backing away from his previous support for gay civil unions. Now, campaign staffers are telling the Boston Globe that Giuliani feels New Hampshire’s civil union law “goes too far” …

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UPS Reverses On Civil Unions

After pressure from NJ Gov. Corzine and Lambda Legal, UPS has reversed its previous stance denying benefits to the partners of civil-unioned employees. The lawyer representing the UPS employees for Lambda Legal said, “UPS is joined by hundreds of employers around the state in hearing that civil unions are different from marriage and that is to be expected when people …

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New Hampshire Get Civil Unions

New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signed that state’s civil unions bill into law today. When the law goes into effect in January, NH will join Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey as the 4th state with civil unions available to same-sex couples. A total of 10 states now offer gay couples some sort of state-level recognition.

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Open Thread Thursday

Yesterday the California Assembly passed a bill making it easier for same-sex partners to take the surname of their partners or to create a new surname entirely. The bill must pass the state Senate and by signed by Schwarzenegger to become law. Currently only seven states (including New York) allow a man to take the last name of his wife …

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Few NJ Civil Unions So Far

Early figures are showing that gay couples in New Jersey aren’t exactly rushing to be civil unioned. Only 229 couples have applied for licenses in the first month (although not all municipalities have reported in), which some activists say is indicative of a feeling that gay marriage will eventually come to the state, causing many couples to wait. If true, …

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