Gay couples register

Gay couples register

Two Erskineville men became the first same-sex couple to register their relationship on South Sydney Council’s partnerships register last Saturday.

In spite of the recent announcement of the council’s amalgamation with the City of Sydney, the event went ahead as planned with David Hudson and Glenn Hill registering their relationship in a ceremony attended by family and friends. It is understood that the relationships register will automatically be adopted by the new City of Sydney Council after the 27 March election.

Registering on the partnerships register means the same thing to us as civil marriage means to our heterosexual friends, said Hudson at the ceremony. We’ve been together 10 years, so I think it would be surprising if we didn’t want to do something like this.

Although their partnership still isn’t legally recognised, registering themselves is a start, Hudson said. The couple are hopeful the state government will follow South Sydney’s lead and eventually introduce state-wide registers.

The partnerships register was the initiative of former South Sydney deputy mayor Peter Furness, who hopes it will draw attention to the inequality of Australian law and get the ball rolling on issues of equal recognition.

The partnerships register is open to both same-sex and mixed-sex couples. For more information, contact the council on 9288 5000.

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