Why Should the New Civil Partnerships Be Reserved for Those in Love or Having Sex?

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The same-sex civil partnership scheme -- announced by the equalities minister, Jacqui Smith -- will remedy many of the injustices faced by lesbian and gay couples. But the scheme is heterophobic and homophobic. It is not available to unmarried heterosexuals and is a second-best version of marriage. Instead of marriage-lite for same-sex lovers, the government should have taken the opportunity to create a legal framework of partnership recognition that applied to gays and straights and which remedied the deficiencies of marriage law.

I propose a Civil Commitment Pact that would allow people to nominate as next-of-kin and beneficiary any "significant other" in their life. This …