Same-sex Relationship
Registration
One of the demands of the homosexual lobby is to have their relationships formally recognised by the
state.
Within the homosexual community there is a considerable difference of
opinion as to what sort of recognition they want. Some homosexuals - and some
homosexual lobby groups -are asking for full marriage. In Australia the main group
set up for that purpose is Australian
Marriage Equality (AME).
Other groups are canvassing the range of options.
The
Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby did a survey of members in 2005 and
published a report called Not
Yet Equal. They asked members what they would like in the way of
relationship recognition.
Two questions were asked about relationship recognition. The first was about
the form of recognition. "The second asked which particular form of recognition
the respondent would choose for themselves, were it available. In both
questions, five options were provided:
• domestic partnership (de facto) recognition (currently
available inVictoria)
• registration
(state or local government, need to opt-in such as with the Tasmanian
system)
• marriage (federal)
• recognition of overseas marriage
•
other."
The VGLRL Report said "We did not make a distinction between
civil unions and registration. These have since been listed as separate
choices in the ACT Department of Justice discussion paper on the recognition of
same sex relationships, although the differences are
minor."
The reality is that different names have been used in various countries
around the world.
The word 'civil
union' was first used in legislation in Vermont in 2000. The New Zealand
Parliament used the term when they passed a Civil Union Act
in 2004.
Prior to that the European nations that had recognised same sex partners had
generally used the term 'Registered Partnerships' - for
instance The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway all introduced 'Registered
Partnership Acts'.
Sometimes particular states and cities allow for the recognition of same sex relationships when a nation
does not - for instance, Sydney.
Tasmania: In 2003,
the Tasmanian government passed the Relationships
Act 2003 (the Act) which "provides legal recognition of ’significant’ or
’caring’ relationships between two adults, regardless of their sex." Source:
click here.
This Act allows for
same-sex and heterosexual 'significant' relationships to be registered - these
are for couple relationships and infer a sexual component. Caring relationships
can be registered on a separate register. The two registers have different
criteria - for instance two sisters cannot register a 'significant' relationship
(that would be incest) but they can register a 'caring
relationship'.
Sydney: The City of Sydney introduced a City
of Sydney Relationships Declaration
program in 2003. It was re-launched in 2005, as few people
had registered. It applies to homosexual and heterosexual couples. For the 9 page Information pack about the Register, click
here.
The reality is that a 'Relationships Register' is very similar to a 'civil
union'. Often it is what is in the legislation rather than what it is
called.
In fact Wikipedia has a 'Civil Unions' page and they
say a relationships register is one of the forms of a civil union. They also
define the terms 'Registered partnerships' as we have described above.
One of the differences that people cite is that a civil union can have
a formal 'ceremony' but a register doesn't. A ceremony and celebrant
is not included in the Tasmanian register, but is in the UK Civil
Partnerships Act and the NZ Civil Union Act.
Ironically there is provision
for a 'celebrant' to do the ceremony for Sydney's Relationships
Register.
This was one of the components of the ACT 'Civil Union Bill' that was
debated in May 2006 that led federal Attorney General Philip Ruddock to say that
the federal government would overturn the ACT Civil Union Act is passed -
because it claimed to be like marriage and used the federal 'Marriage
Celebrants'.
But this is already happening in Sydney, as people on this
homosexual website, Pinkboard, are
noting. In fact a federal 'celebrant' is advertising for customers!
The question is....
How many
people are actually using civil union or registration schemes when they have
access to them?
On our same sex
marriage page, we refer to a recent study by the Institute for Marriage and
Public Policy, that examines this question in reference to marriage.
The
study is
Demand for Same-sex marriage: Evidence from the
United States,
Canada and Europe, IMAPP, April 2006.
"This research report offers
estimates of gay and lesbian marriage rates based on the best available data.
The highest estimate to date of the proportion of gays and lesbians who have
married in any jurisdiction where it is available is 16.7%
(Massachusetts). More typically,
our survey of marriage statistics from various countries that legally recognize
same-sex unions suggests that today between 1% and 5% of gays and lesbians
have entered into a same-sex marriage. In the
Netherlands,
which has had same-sex marriage as a legal option for the longest period,
between 2% and 6% of gays and lesbians have entered marriages in the first five
years. [1]
Data for registration schemes/civil
unions/ registered partnerships etc...
Private Lives: Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria
This Report was
published by GLHV in 2006. The Executive Summary says "Only a very
small percentage of men and women (between 5-10%) reported formalising the
relationship with a marriage or commitment ceremony, while most others had no
wish to do so."
They say "This result appears to provide some
contrast to the approximately 75% of respondents to a Victorian survey
who were in favour of same sex marriage or formal domestic partnership being
available throughout Australia ( McNair and Thomacos, 2005). [See the Not Yet
Equal study listed above] The discrepancy may also be explained by the fact that
participants in the latter study reported being in favour of the option being
available rather than whether or not they personally wished to take advantage of
such an option." (emphasis added)
Tasmania Relationships Register
Only 63 'couples' registered in the first two
years (as at 1 April 2006). The Australian census states that there were
506 same-sex 'couples' in
Tasmania in 2001 - if all 63 couples
were same sex couples, then that would
be just 12.5% of all s-s couples. Rodney Croome recently suggested that
many more 'couples' have moved to
Tasmania since the laws were
changed - If there are more couples now the percentage becomes less.
Further
data shows that about 20% of all registrations in Tasmania are heterosexual
couples.
As at 6 December 2007, there were 100
relationships registered on Tasmania's Relationships Register. Attorney-General Steven
Kons said "Tasmania now has 100
relationships registered, with 99 of these registered as significant, and one
registered as a caring relationship."
77 same-sex couples had
registered a relationship, with 23 opposite-sex couples also registering. Of the
same-sex couples, 37 were female-female and 40 were male-male.
There have
been 4 'revocations' (read divorce!). Source
While
the Relationships Act recognizes a range of “significant relationships,”
including those between a person and a long-term care giver, or elderly friends
who live together, no “caring” relationships were registered before 2007. Click here.
The first and only one was registered during
2007.
New
Zealand
In
the first twelve months after the New Zealand government
passed the Civil Unions Bill, there were 458 civil unions formalised. Figures released by the Department of Internal Affairs show
that there were 178 gay civil unions, 199 lesbian civil unions and 81 straight
unions: meaning that
around 7.5% of the 5070 same sex couples (as recorded in the 2001 census) have
had a 'civil union'.
Click here.
A total of 1,000 civil unions were registered in
the first 2.5 years
up to October 2007: 80% were same sex and 20%
heterosexual between a man and a woman. In the same time 45,000 marriages had
been performed. Click here for article.
That means about 15% of same-sex
couples have registered a 'civil union'.
Sydney same-sex 'register
ONLY 22 couples 'registered' their relationship in
the first year of the Sydney Relationship Declaration scheme (by March 2006).
Lord Mayor Clover Moore urged more homosexual couples to register their
relationships. Click here.
The 2001
census shows that there are 2,265 same-sex couples in Federal seat of
'
Sydney
' - 1% have chosen
to register! This is despite two mardi gras being held since the
registration was enacted and a protest at the 1st anniversary of the passing of
the federal governments legislation banning same-sex 'marriage'. These were surely great
opportunities to make registration an issue. There is no record of 'other'
relationship recognition requests.
United Kingdom
The UK legalised 'civil
partnerships' in December 2005. These only apply to homosexual couples.
From 5 December 2005 through to the end of 2006 there were 18,059
'civil partnerships'. More
details/statistics.
In 2007, the number of couples registering civil
partnerships fell by more than 50%. The reasons given by homosexual activists
varied - 'not interested', homosexuals reject them as representing
'integration', many couples registered in the first year. Click here
for report in The Observer.
The 2001 census
found 78,000 people living as a same-sex couple - 39,261 couples. A 2% estimate
of the number of homosexuals would give
around 800,000 homosexuals
in the UK.
How long do same sex 'unions'
last?
Same-sex unions and Divorce Risk
Same-sex legal unions have
unusually high rates of divorce.
Sweden is a
country with relatively low rates of marriage and relatively high rates of
divorce. In 1999, 55 percent of Swedish births were outside of marriage.18 There
were 53 divorces for every 100 marriages. Overall, homosexual couples were
1.5 times as likely (50 percent more likely) to divorce within the 8-year study
period and lesbian couples in legal unions were 2.67 times as likely (167
percent more likely) to divorce.20 After controlling for demographic variables
associated with increased divorce risk, male same-sex partners remained
1.35 times as likely (35 percent more likely) to divorce and lesbian
partners three times as likely (200 percent more likely) to divorce as
opposite-sex married couples.[2]
[1]
Gallagher, Maggie., and Baker, Joshua, ‘Demand for Same-Sex Marriage:
Evidence from the United States, Canada, and Europe’, Institute for Marriage
and Public Policy, iMAPP Policy Brief, Vol. 3, No.1 April 26, 2006, in http://www.marriagedebate.com/pdf/imapp.demandforssm.pdf
You need to register (free) to obtain the
document.
[2]
Gallagher, Maggie., and Baker, Joshua, ‘Same-sex unions and Divorce Risk:
Data from
Sweden’,
Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, iMAPP Policy Brief, May 3 2004.
Author: Jenny Stokes | Modified: 11 February 2008 |
