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The NSW Relationship Register soared over its final hurdle last night, with an overwhelming 32-5 vote of support from the NSW Upper House.

The emotive debate over the NSW Relationships Register Bill seen in the NSW lower house the night before continued in the other chamber, with Greens members lamenting the lack of mention of same-sex marriage.

Predictably, members of the christian right were predicting the death of marriage and family as we know it.

The five objections came from members of the religious right: Fred Nile, of the Christian Democrats and the Reverend Gordon Moyes of the Family First Party.

"Leaving aside its philosophical or moral problems, any requirement that the relationship has any real meaning is very weak and almost non-existent in the way this bill has been drafted," Nile told his parliamentary colleagues after arriving in the chamber late from the annual Australian Christian Democrats dinner.

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One of the first couples to have an officially-recognised Tasmanian relationship ceremony has gone public on what having a ceremony means for them.

Isha Cavan and Sonja Plitt entered a Tasmanian Deed of Relationship (a form of civil union) on Saturday in an official ceremony before family and friends, conducted by registered marriage celebrant, Terese Tanner, at Isha and Sonja's home near the Tasmanian fishing village of Orford.

According to Isha their ceremony was an important way to foster a sense of "belonging".

"It's important for us to be part of the community we live in, and to publicly acknowledge our relationship so people can support it and rejoice in it. Ceremonies also help give children a sense of belonging, something we feel is important for our son."

Sonja said official ceremonies help break down preconceptions about same-sex relationships.

"Having our relationship recognised in this way helps our families and the community understand that our love is as real and as valid as heterosexual love", she said.

Isha said that while the couple support full equality for same-sex couples, including in marriage, they prefer a Deed of Relationship because it treats all personal relationships equally.

"Given the choice between a marriage and a Deed of Relationship we would probably still have gone with the latter because it provides the same rights to a more diverse range of relationships", Isha said.

Isha and Sonja moved to Tasmania two years ago, drawn by what they say is the island's "changing attitudes to same-sex couples".

Isha told the Hobart daily newspaper, The Mercury, which featured their ceremony in its Sunday edition,

"Sonja and I were laughing this morning, there's so many reasons why we could have been ostracised. Firstly, we are both immigrants, secondly we are both from the mainland, thirdly there's a 25 year age gap and fourthly, we're lesbians. But we have found the opposite, Tasmanians take you as you are."

Isha and Sonja's ceremony is one of the first under Tasmania's new arrangements for officially-recognised relationship ceremonies.

In November last year the Tasmanian Government announced that it would officially recognise the ceremony of a couple entering a Deed of Relationship by ensuring their Deed is registered on the day of the ceremony, and by providing the couple's celebrant with an official state relationship certificate, that must be signed by the celebrant, the couple and two witnesses before it is legally valid.

Since December, gay community representatives have conducted a series of training sessions about the new ceremonial arrangements for Tasmania's registered marriage celebrants. A list of celebrants who are familiar with the new arrangements can be found at,
http://www.relationshipstasmania.org.au/celebrants.html

The Tasmanian relationship registry, under which Deeds of Relationship are issued, was established in 2003 and was Australia's first civil union scheme. Ceremonies were introduced in response to complaints from couples that entering a Deed of Relationship was formerly a "cold", "bureaucratic" or "paper" process.

Same and opposite-sex partners in Deeds of Relationship have virtually the same entitlements as heterosexual married partners in both state and federal law. The relationship registry also formalises companionate and familial relationships.

Since 2004, 156 couples have entered a Deed of Relationship which is proportionally the same as the number of couples who have entered New Zealand civil unions.

Schemes for the formal recognition of same-sex and other relationships also exist in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Victoria, with the ACT also offering an official ceremony.

The New South Wales Government has announced its intention to introduce a scheme, but has ruled out any official ceremony.

Same-sex marriage is not allowed in Australia, although polls show 60% of Australians support it.

Photos of the ceremonial signing of the Deed of Relationship certificate are available on request to Rodney Croome on 0409 010 668 or via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For more information contact Isha and Sonja on 0407 383 500.

media release was issued by the TGLRG on 16.3.10.

Source : http://tglrg.org/more/445_0_1_0_M/

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A motion that would have seen the government putting pressure on Uganda to withdraw its recently-tabled Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been rejected by the Senate.

SA Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young moved that the Senate should condemn the criminalisation of homosexuality anywhere in the world.

She also moved that the Senate should "[call] on the Government to actively encourage the Ugandan Government to withdraw its Anti-Homosexuality Bill and respect the human rights of same-sex attracted people."

On October 14 a bill was tabled in the Ugandan parliament that widened the legal definition of homosexual acts and introduced the death penalty for the new offence of "aggravated homosexuality". Under the latter, anyone who had gay sex with either a disabled person or anyone under 18, or anyone with HIV who had sex with a person of the same gender, could be executed.

Senator Hanson-Young also called on the Senate to "recognise the universal human rights of same-sex attracted people to live their lives free from persecution on the basis of their sexuality."

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The ACT Government says a move by Tasmania to give greater rights to gay couples shows Canberrans are being treated unfairly by the Commonwealth.

The Tasmanian Government will allow same-sex couples to register their relationships from the date a ceremony is held.

Gay couples in the ACT can register their relationship but cannot hold a legal ceremony.

Attorney-General Simon Corbell says it is a significant move and the ACT should have the same right.

"What this highlights is that the Federal Government has been discriminating against the Territory on this matter," he said.

"The Territory has proposed a particular course of action, it was rejected.

"Now of course the Tasmania Government has done it and they don't have the same options to bully the Tasmanian Government into submission."

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