Same-sex marriage in New Zealand
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| Same-sex marriage |
|---|
| Performed nationwide in |
| Netherlands (2001) |
| Belgium (2003) |
| Spain (2005) |
| Canada (2005) |
| Performed statewide in |
| Massachusetts, USA (2004) |
| To be performed in |
| South Africa (by 1 Dec 2006) |
| Debate in other countries and regions |
| Aruba |
| Australia |
| Austria |
| China |
| Estonia |
| France |
| Ireland |
| Latvia |
| Lithuania |
| New Zealand |
| Portugal |
| Romania |
| Sweden |
| Taiwan |
| United Kingdom |
| United States: CA CT MD NY NJ OR WA |
| See also |
| Civil union |
| Registered partnership |
| Domestic partnership |
| Federal Marriage Amendment |
| Timeline of same-sex marriage |
| Listings by country |
New Zealand does not allow same-sex marriage, but allows civil unions that provide virtually all the rights and responsibilities of marriage. On immigration to New Zealand, couples that have same-sex marriages from countries that allow them can have their marriages recognised as civil unions. Adoptions by same-sex couples are also not legal.
During the 2005 election, Prime Minister Helen Clark admitted that she thought it was discriminatory to exclude same-sex couples from the Marriage Act 1955, but said she would not push to change it.[1]
[edit] Marriage amendment
In 2005, United Future MP Gordon Copeland sponsored the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill that would have amended the Marriage Act to define marriage as only between a man and a woman, and amend anti-discrimination protections in the Bill of Rights so that the bill could stand. It also would have prohibited same-sex marriages from foreign countries from being recognized as marriages in New Zealand. The bill was voted down by a large margin (47 in favour, 73 against) on December 7, 2005. MPs who opposed the bill said they considered it unnecessary and MP Katherine Rich called the bill a "cheap political stunt" meant to appeal to "banjo-playing redneck homophobe(s)." [2]
[edit] Transsexuals
If a post-operative transsexual marries someone of the opposite sex to the one that they had been reassigned to, that is considered a legal marriage under the Marriage Act 1955. This was decided by the M v H [1995] case in Otahuhu (Auckland)'s Family Court, and later upheld in New Zealand's Court of Appeal. This means that while pre-operative transpeople can contract civil unions, they cannot get married, unlike their post-operative counterparts.
[edit] See also
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