by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
Some gay activists in the Australian Capital Territory have rejected proposed amendments to the ACT civil partnership laws.
Territory Attorney-General Simon Corbell reportedly struck a deal with the federal government that allows ACT gay couples to have an official ceremony in conjunction with a civil partnership. But to seal the deal, Corbell gave in to a federal demand that the celebrants' actions will carry no legal weight and that only the actions of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages matter legally.
"The proposed changes to the ACT laws entirely undermine the purpose of civil unions," said John Kloprogge of Equal Love Canberra. "The federal government is being held hostage by the Australian Christian Lobby, and the ACT Labor Party should not aid and abet the blackmailing of their federal party colleagues."
Equal Love's Gab Hitch said the amendments "sold out" the gay community.
"The ACT civil union laws have been so watered down that they are now unrecognizable to the original legislation tabled by the Stanhope Labor Government," Hitch said. "This is death by a thousand amendments to civil unions in the ACT."
