Jenny Taylor adjusts a wedding cake figurine of a couple made up of two men at the gay wedding show at the town hall in Manchester in this November 6, 2005 file photo. - REUTERS
LONDON (AP):
GAY COUPLES in Britain began registering for civil partnerships yesterday as a law took effect giving them many of the same legal rights as married heterosexuals.
Scores showed up at town halls across the country, eager to claim the benefits and official recognition, although not the official title "marriage", for which some have waited decades.
"We're absolutely delighted," said 80-year-old John Walton, registering in London with his partner of 40 years, Roger Raglan. "It's enormously important to us that we should be able to state to everyone that we are partners."
Among the first to register were pop star Elton John and his filmmaker partner David Furnish, whose official proclamation was posted alongside those of other impending weddings and partnerships at Maidenhead Town Hall, west of London. After the mandatory 15-day waiting period, the couple plan a private ceremony in nearby Windsor, where they have a home.
They will tie the knot in Windsor's 17th-century town hall, where Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles in April, the local council said.
"Sir Elton and Mr. Furnish are making a solemn and formal commitment to each other, and our Guildhall offers them dignity and privacy," said Mary-Rose Gliksten, council leader for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
