Timbre of a TimeFree Mind

A popular British seaside resort plans to make history by being the first city in the country to perform “gay marriages”, officials said today.
Brighton & Hove Register Office has selected three couples to be wed in a joint ceremony one second after midnight on December 21.
The Act does not use the term “gay marriage” but the civil partnerships have clearly been designed to be as close to a marriage contract as possible.

Same-sex couples will be able to notify register offices of their intention to form a civil partnership from December 5. The first partnerships can then take place on December 21 after a 15-day waiting period.

Brighton & Hove Register Office, which claims to have held more same-sex commitment ceremonies than any other city in the country, also wants to be the first to register a gay couple on December 5 and is already fully-booked with 13 couples that day.
The six people set to marry on December 21 – two of whom are a male gay couple while the others’ identity is being kept secret – said they wanted to be the first to wed.

During the ceremony each person will be asked: “Are you X free to commit to a partnership with X?” Reply: “I am”.

A spokeswoman for Brighton & Hove City Council said they can change this to “I do” if they prefer and write their own vows.
Gino Meriano, 41, is one of the people preparing to make legal history with his long-term partner, Mike Ullett, 44. The couple live in Weybridge, Surrey, and run gay and lesbian event planning agency Pink Weddings.
Mr Meriano said: “We never had the time to have a commitment ceremony. I really want to get married and I want it as soon as possible.

“We are very very excited and honoured to be asked. It will be a very special moment for us.

“Mike and I have been together for six years and we are really thrilled to now be able to have a public and legal acknowledgement of our relationship.

“We are both particularly excited that we will be helping to make British history by being one of three same-sex couples to be the first to get married.

“We are very lucky that Brighton & Hove is so supportive of its gay community and this is just another example of the council’s forward-thinking attitude.”
He added: “We will write some vows that we will say to each other. We want things like a ring exchange. A girl always wants a wedding ring so why can’t I ?”

He said they will wear modern, fashionable suits to the Register Office event and they won’t be white. He also said they are discussing possible surname changes.
Simon Burgess, deputy chairman of Brighton & Hove City Council’s policy and resources committee, said: “The council has fully supported the Civil Partnership Bill since the Bill for the new legislation was first suggested.

“The Bill means we will be able to offer same-sex couples a ceremony that will help provide them with a secure future in a loving relationship.

“We pioneered the launch of the ‘Pink Wedding Waiting List’ in July last year when over 260 gay and lesbian couples signed up their intention to be wed when the law changes, and now we want to be the first city in the UK to marry a same-sex couple.”

The council spokeswoman added that they hope Brighton and Hove, which has a thriving gay and lesbian community, will become the flagship city for “gay weddings” in the UK.
The partnerships will allow gays to benefit from a dead partner’s pension, grant next-of-kin rights in hospitals and exempt them from inheritance tax on a partner’s home.
Registration will be available only to homosexuals and not as an alternative to heterosexual marriage. Partners will be able to dissolve the agreement in a form of divorce.

posted by jikido  # 12:42 PM