UK's Same-Sex Couples May Get Some Marriage Rights
Italian Catholic priest Rev. Vitaliano Della Sala, poses with two gay people at the Gay Pride parade in Rome in this July 8, 2000 file photo. Rev. Vitaliano has been removed as pastor of his parish in Sant'Angelo a Scala, near Avellino in southern Italy a
London (CNSNews.com) - Britain's ruling Labor Party plans to introduce a bill that would give cohabiting same-sex couples some of the same rights as married couples, a government minister said in an interview published Friday.
Barbara Roche, minister for social exclusion and equalities, said there is a "clear and strong" case for allowing homosexual couples the chance to register their relationships with the government.
The new law would allow partners to be named as next-of-kin and give same-sex cohabiting couples property rights and inheritance tax exemptions. A "marriage" ceremony will not be required and the government has shied away from calling the arrangement "gay marriage."
"There are many thousands of gay couples who have been together for years, who look after each other, support each other, live their lives in exactly the same way as any other family," Roche said. "Yet the law,...
Rev. Colin Mercer | 11/19/2012
