Registered Partnership
Registered partnerships (Icelandic: staðfest samvist) for gay and lesbian couples were introduced in Iceland in 1996. This legislation was repealed with the passing of the gender-neutral marriage law.
The legislation granted the same range of protections, responsibilities and benefits as marriage, and was only available to same-sex couples. A registered partner could adopt the other partner’s child, unless the child was adopted from a foreign country. All parties in the Alþingi, the Icelandic Parliament, were in favour of the law; only one member of the conservative Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) voted against it.
On 2 June 2006 Parliament voted for legislation granting same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexuals in adoption, parenting and assisted insemination treatment. No member of Parliament voted against the proposal and the law came into effect on 27 June 2006.
An amendment which took force on 27 June 2008 allowed the Church of Iceland and other religious groups to bless same-sex registered partnerships.
Notable Icelandic individuals joined in civil union include the current Prime Minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, and her partner, Jónína Leósdóttir. On 27 June 2010, they had their registered partnership transformed into a recognized marriage.
Read more about this topic: Same-sex Marriage In Iceland
Famous quotes containing the words registered and/or partnership:
“Let fame, that all hunt after in their lives,
Live registered upon our brazen tombs,
And then grace us in the disgrace of death;
When spite of cormorant devouring Time,
Th’ endeavor of this present breath may buy
That honor which shall bate his scythe’s keen edge,
And make us heirs of all eternity.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Are we bereft of citizenship because we are mothers, wives and daughters of a mighty people? Have women no country—no interests staked in public weal—no liabilities in common peril—no partnership in a nation’s guilt and shame?”
—Angelina Grimké (1805–1879)