Recognition of same-sex unions in Denmark

Registered partnerships (Danish: "registreret partnerskab") in Denmark were created by a law enacted on June 7 1989, the world's first such law, and came into force on October 1, 1989. It was extended to Greenland in 1996 and later amended in 1999. Similar to civil unions in the United States or civil partnerships in the United Kingdom, registered partnerships have almost all the same qualities as marriage. All legal and fiscal rights and obligations are like those of opposite-sex marriage, with the following four exceptions:

* registered partners cannot adopt, with the exception that one party can adopt the biological children of the other
* registered partners cannot have joint custody of a child, except by adoption
* laws making explicit reference to the sexes of a married couple do not apply to registered partnerships
* regulations by international treaties do not apply unless all signatories agree.

Divorce for registered partners follow the same rules as opposite-sex divorces.

Registered partners must meet one of the following residency requirements to form a union: (1) one partner must be a Danish citizen and be resident in Denmark, or (2) both parties must have been resident in Denmark for two years. Citizens of Finland, Iceland, and Norway are treated as Danish citizens for purposes of the residency requirements. Additionally, the Justice Minister may order citizenship in any other country with a law similar to Denmark's be treated as a citizen of Denmark. [cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mcI7C7JgtDMC&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&dq=denmark+registered+partnership+1999&source=web&ots=4qs6mrPJns&sig=wzA9Ta24DWY3i3wMSXPNlcLtDXI&hl=en |title=Act on Registered Partnerships, as amended]

As of today, there are more than 8,868 registered partnerships in Denmark, of which 500 involved parents of minor children.Fact|date=April 2008

Role of the state church

Registered partnership is by civil ceremony only. The Church of Denmark, the Lutheran state church, which is generally more conservative about same-sex issues than the Danish people, has yet to decide how to handle the issue, but the general attitude of the church seems approving but hesitant. Some priests perform blessings of gay couples, and this is accepted since 1997 by the church, which states that the church blesses people, not institutions.

ee also

* Axel and Eigil Axgil

References

External links

* [http://users.cybercity.dk/~dko12530/s2.htm The Registered Partnership Act]
* [http://www.familiestyrelsen.dk/other-languages/english/5/ The Formation and Dissolution of Marriage Act] (common marriage act)
* [http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_dane.htm The Evangelical Lutheran Church In Denmark & Homosexuality]