JURIST - Paper Chase: British bill gives legal recognition to gay partnerships

A new bill unveiled by Britain Wednesday and expected to be passed by year's end gives legal recognition for the first time to same-sex couples who register their partnerships. While avoiding the words "gay marriage," the Civil Partnership Bill confers upon gay couples the same property, tax, and other rights and responsibilities that their heterosexual counterparts already enjoy. In doing so, it brings Britain in line with nine other European Union countries that legally recognize committed homosexual relationships. BBC has more here. Britain's Christian Institute offers a convenient table comparing civil partnerships to marriages here.