Javier Garca

SHOULD HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE BE ALLOWED?

Marriage between homosexual people is a current issue that has recently been on the news. Due to its conflictivity, many people have manifested their opinions in favour and against it. On the one hand, some people like Soren Kruse and Bradley Stauffer are glad about the possibility of a civil partnership. The new law will allow gay couples to formalize their relation and enjoy almost the same rights as non homosexual married partners. On the other hand, those who are against, like the Catholic Church, feel exactly the opposite, that this law will destroy the true concept of marriage. They go as far as to say that it is immoral. I believe this polemical issue should not create controversy at all. Everyone should marry whoever they want paying attention to the fact that it is the right person and not to the fact that they are boys or girls so I think that this kind of marriages should be allowed. BIBLIOGRAPHY -http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/08/01/npope01.xml
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,5348188-111157,00.html

Javier Garca

Same-sex unions

Thousands prepare to tie the knot

New act comes into force today
Clare Dyer, legal editor Monday December 5, 2005 Guardian Sren Kruse and Bradley Stauffer will have a ball when they celebrate their union next November. Though their "wedding" is nearly a year away, the ballroom at the Polish Club in South Kensington is already booked, as is the register office at their local town hall. The pair will be among thousands of gay couples expected to register their relationships under the Civil Partnership Act, which comes into force today. Allowing for the notice period, the first ceremonies will take place in England and Wales on December 21. Gay marriage is legal in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Canada. Britain has not gone that far, but civil partnership will be marriage in all but name, granting legal rights virtually identical to those enjoyed by married couples. Gay couples who register as civil partners will take on the obligation to support each other financially, even after the relationship ends. To split, they will have to go through a "divorce" process, with the courts dividing up the assets regardless of ownership if they fail to reach a settlement. They will be exempt from inheritance tax when the first partner dies, and will have the same pension rights as married couples. German-born Mr Kruse is a counselling psychologist and Mr Stauffer, from the US, a theatrical producer. Both now British citizens, they live together in east London. Together they are ranked number 17 in the world on the same-sex ballroom dancing circuit. Turning point "It's extraordinary that we're at the stage where we can do this because when we met it didn't seem to be such a friendly world at all," said Mr Kruse. "It seemed to be a world that didn't want to see us together, both in the US and the UK." He said he and his partner understood the legal implications of the step they were taking, although legal considerations were not the main reason behind it. But Mark Harper, a family law partner at the law firm Withers, and joint author of Civil Partnership: The New Law, believes some couples will register their unions without fully realising the consequences, "partly because we were told repeatedly it isn't the same as marriage". He added: "If people think it isn't the same as marriage they don't understand what it means in terms of asset division [if a couple split]. Obviously it's momentous and I'm sure in years to come everybody will think it was a huge turning point for recognition of same-sex couples. But although it's a joyous day for all of us, people need to understand exactly what it means and what they're letting themselves in for."

Javier Garca
The first gay "divorce" will not happen before 2007 because, as with marriage, unhappy partners will not be able to file for dissolution until they have given it a go for at least one year. The Law Society is advising would-be civil partners to consider a prenuptial agreement, which allows a couple to spell out who should get what if they split. The snag is that, although the courts will take account of them, they are not legally enforceable. Judges are more likely to uphold an agreement if both partners fully disclose their financial position, neither exerts pressure on the other, each takes separate legal advice, and their circumstances have not changed substantially. Lawyers expect the family courts to apply broadly the same principles to civil partnership dissolutions as to divorce, but some think prenuptial agreements between civil partners will be more readily upheld than husband and wife "prenups". Gay lawyers, who would be well aware of the legal consequences, have embraced the new partnerships enthusiastically, according to a survey by the Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association. Of LAGLA members in steady relationships, 52% said they were planning to register as civil partnerships - even though many are family lawyers. Chairman Andrea Woelke said: "It is vital that people do take the time to consider the full impact of the legislation before tying the knot - we don't want to see a rush of divorces among civil partners in 2007." FAQ Civil partnerships Who can register a civil partnership? Civil partnerships can be registered by two people of the same sex who are not closely related to each other. It is designed for gay couples, but longstanding heterosexual friends of the same sex could also register if, for instance, they wanted to pass on assets to each other free of inheritance tax. What about unmarried opposite-sex couples? They cannot register their partnership; if they want rights equal to those of married couples their only option is to marry. What rights do civil partners have? They can inherit from each other without a will, benefit from each other's national insurance contributions, are exempt from inheritance tax, are treated as married for immigration purposes, have the right to financial support from each other and can make financial claims on each other if the partnership is dissolved. How many people are expected to form civil partnerships? The government expects between 11,000 and 22,000 people by 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,5348188-111157,00.html

Pope attacks 'evil' gay marriages

By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
(Filed: 01/08/2003)

Government proposals to recognise homosexual "civil partnerships" were denounced by the Pope yesterday as the legitimisation of "evil". Moves to grant legal rights to gay couples will undermine marriage and must be strongly opposed by Roman Catholic politicians, a Vatican document approved by the Pontiff said.

Javier Garca

It added that allowing cohabiting homosexuals to adopt was "gravely immoral" and tantamount to "doing violence" to children by placing them in an unnatural environment. The document, drawn up by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stressed that it was only restating traditional teaching that homosexual practices were "sins gravely contrary to chastity". But its uncompromising language enraged homosexual rights campaigners and privately embarrassed the English bishops, who have taken a less confrontational approach to the issue. The eight-page paper, signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the head of the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog, and approved by Pope John Paul II in March, voiced the Vatican's concerns for countries "that have granted - or intend to grant legal recognition to homosexual unions, which may include the possibility of adopting children". Same-sex unions have already been granted legal recognition in Canada and parts of America and Europe, including the Netherlands and Belgium. In Britain Parliament has voted to permit homosexual couples to adopt and the Government's new proposals will give people who register their relationships additional pension and tax rights. The Vatican said, however, that homosexual acts breached the moral law and any move to equate gay relationships with marriage was immoral and would undermine society. "Those who would move away from tolerance to the legitimisation of specific rights for cohabiting homosexual persons need to be reminded that the approval or legalisation of evil is something far different from the toleration of evil," it said. Catholic politicians were ordered to vote against such proposals, because to support changes "so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral". Children adopted by gay couples would be deprived of the experience of either fatherhood or motherhood, it added. "Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development." The document re-affirmed the Church's opposition to all forms of "unjust" discrimination against gay people, but added that even homosexual inclination was "objectively disordered". At a London press conference to launch the English version of the document yesterday, Bishop John Hine, the chairman of the English and Welsh bishops' committee for marriage and family life, said the Church did not regard homosexual people as evil, just gay sex. Ann Widdecombe, the Tory MP and convert to Catholicism, said the document was "very welcome" and she would abide by it.

Javier Garca

Outrage!, the homosexual pressure group, said: "It seems the Vatican is, not for the first time, interfering in the democratic process."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/08/01/npope01.xml vocabulary -ballroom: sala d baile -regardless: sin tener en cuenta -joint: compartido -asset: capital -snag: problema -upholdmantener -prenaps: prenupcias -undermine: minar match dog: perro guardian equate: igualar cohabiting: cohabitar chairman: director outrage: enfado