T_Totler
12-22-2005, 02:51 PM
Last updated Dec 21 2005 10:10 AM EST
CBC News
Pop superstar Elton John and Canadian David Furnish smiled and waved to hundreds of fans on Wednesday after celebrating their same-sex union at the historic Guildhall in Windsor, England.
The civil partnership ceremony took place at the same place where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles were married last spring.
Clair Williams, the woman who presided over the royal ceremony in April, led this ceremony as well.
The 58-year-old musician and Furnish, 43, planned a reception for about 700 people at John's nearby estate.
Furnish was raised in Scarborough, where his parents still live.
The ceremony came on the same day some 687 other same-sex couples in England and Wales are also commemorating their civil partnerships, the BBC said. This is the first day the ceremonies are legal there.
The United Kingdom's new civil partnerships legislation does not use the word marriage. It came into effect on Monday in Northern Ireland, then on Tuesday in Scotland.
The law gives same-sex couples the right to form legally binding partnerships.
It also entitles them to the same tax and pension rights as married couples.
The new U.K. law requires the couples wishing to form a partnership to register with their local municipal councils. Only gay and lesbian couples will be allowed to register for the partnership option.
Gay marriages are legal in Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. In the United States, Massachusetts allows gay marriage, while Vermont and Connecticut permit gay civil unions.
http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/story/to_elton2005.html
CBC News
Pop superstar Elton John and Canadian David Furnish smiled and waved to hundreds of fans on Wednesday after celebrating their same-sex union at the historic Guildhall in Windsor, England.
The civil partnership ceremony took place at the same place where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles were married last spring.
Clair Williams, the woman who presided over the royal ceremony in April, led this ceremony as well.
The 58-year-old musician and Furnish, 43, planned a reception for about 700 people at John's nearby estate.
Furnish was raised in Scarborough, where his parents still live.
The ceremony came on the same day some 687 other same-sex couples in England and Wales are also commemorating their civil partnerships, the BBC said. This is the first day the ceremonies are legal there.
The United Kingdom's new civil partnerships legislation does not use the word marriage. It came into effect on Monday in Northern Ireland, then on Tuesday in Scotland.
The law gives same-sex couples the right to form legally binding partnerships.
It also entitles them to the same tax and pension rights as married couples.
The new U.K. law requires the couples wishing to form a partnership to register with their local municipal councils. Only gay and lesbian couples will be allowed to register for the partnership option.
Gay marriages are legal in Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. In the United States, Massachusetts allows gay marriage, while Vermont and Connecticut permit gay civil unions.
http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/story/to_elton2005.html