Relationships, Civil Unions and Same-sex Marriage
The Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2001 gives de facto couples, whether opposite or same sex, the same property rights as existed since 1976 for married couples on the break-up of a relationship.
The Civil Union Act 2004 established the institution of civil unions for same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The Act is very similar to the Marriage Act with "marriage" replaced by "civil union". The following year, the Relationships (Statutory References) Act 2005 was passed to remove discriminatory provisions from most legislation.
Same-sex marriage in New Zealand was refused judicial approval by the Court of Appeal after Quilter v Attorney-General in 1994. However, unlike Australia and much of the United States, New Zealand has also refused to pre-emptively ban same-sex marriage if some future Parliament decided to approve it within an amended Marriage Act 1955. In December 2005, an abortive private members bill failed at its first reading to do so. Same-sex marriage and adoption now remains the final barrier before full LGBT formal and substantive equality in New Zealand.
In July 2012, a member's bill by Labour MP Louisa Wall which proposed defining marriage to be inclusive regardless of gender was drawn from the ballot. Preliminary reports show that there is widespread support for the bill both within Parliament (notably from Prime Minister John Key and Leader of the Opposition David Shearer) and amongst the New Zealand public, with polls conducted in May 2012 indicating 63% support. However, there has been opposition from religious and conservative groups. The bill passed its first reading on 29 August 2012, 80 votes in favour to 40 opposed (with one abstention), and was sent to the Government Administration Select Committee for closer scrutiny and public input, with the Committee required to report back to the House by 28 February 2013.
In December 2012, former Governor-General Catherine Tizard starred in an online video campaign supporting gay marriage, alongside New Zealand singers Anika Moa, Boh Runga and Hollie Smith, as well as Olympian Danyon Loader.
Read more about this topic: LGBT Rights In New Zealand
Famous quotes containing the words civil, unions and/or marriage:
“...I was confronted with a virile idealism, an awareness of what man must have for manliness, dignity, and inner liberty which, by contrast, made me see how easy living had made my own group into childishly unthinking people. The Negro’s struggles and despairs have been like fertilizer in the fields of his humanity, while we, like protected children with all our basic needs supplied, have given our attention to superficialities.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 19 (1962)
“When Hitler attacked the Jews ... I was not a Jew, therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then, Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church—and there was nobody left to be concerned.”
—Martin Niemller (1892–1984)
“Where there’s marriage without love, there will be love without marriage.”
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)