Civil Unions

Marriage equality, though, remains out of reach.

It seems the threat of LGBTQ people being seen as equal was simply too much for the Church to bear quietly.

Some call the Pope’s acceptance of civil unions “revolutionary.” But his words far from absolve Francis and the Catholic Church from continuously restraining the human and civil rights of LGBTQ people.

We help you understand what they’re voting on, whether it’s likely to pass and what will happen next.

Language in support of LGBT relationships was also removed, in a move that is drawing criticism from many, including a former president.

They say they and other couples face discrimination because only same-sex couples are eligible for civil partnerships.

Until recently, the country had been a last bastion in western Europe of social norms largely dictated by the Catholic church.

A same-sex couple denied access to a bed and breakfast while planning their civil union ceremony has won another legal victory in a five-year discrimination case.

The Vatican’s deputy secretary of state says the remarks were “scandalous,” “offensive,” and “pagan.”

Partnerships would be registered where marriage records are kept and the spot for “last name” will be changed to “family name.”

The women, one from southern Italy and the other of South American origins, fell in love while working at a rehabilitation center for drug addicts.

Prosecutors allege he helped a woman and her daughter flee the country rather than share custody of the girl with the woman’s former partner.

Same-sex couples now have the right to register their unions and receive benefits granted to married people on the Dutch Caribbean island.

Italy was the last of the European Union’s 28 nations to grant legal recognition to civil unions.

Gay and lesbian groups denounced the watered-down legislation as a betrayal because Renzi’s Democratic Party sacrificed a provision to allow same-sex adoption in order to ensure passage.

The motion commits the government “to promote the adoption of a law on civil unions, particularly with regard to the condition of the people of same sex”.

Along with being the first legal recognition of a same-sex relationship in Central America, the decision could set an example for judges elsewhere in the country to recognize gay relationships and even adoption.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Monday signed a law that recognizes civil unions between same-sex couples, a sign of change in a country long regarded as one South America’s most socially conservative nations.

Costa Rica will put forth a plan this week to allow civil unions between same-sex couples in the Central American nation.

Lawmaker Carlos Bruce said he was disappointed a representative of the Catholic Church, “apparently lacking arguments, now resorts to insults.”