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World Germany's Supreme Court Upholds Same-Sex Unions Compiled by GayToday Berlin, Germany--Germany's highest court voted 5 to 3 Wednesday to uphold the the nation's law equalizing same-sex couples rights with those who are heterosexually coupled. Enforced since last August, the nearly year-old law provides room for committed same-sex couples to register their partnerships at registry offices. 'Divorces' would thereafter require intervention by a court. But the equal status of same-sex couples in matters of inheritance and health insurance are pointedly assured by the law. Opposition to passage of the law emanated mainly from right-wing Bavaria from which the ultra-conservative family traditionalist Edmund Stoiber is challenging the leadership of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in autumn. His right-wing party currently leads in the national polls. Openly-gay Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit (right with UN Secretary General Kofi Anan): A decisive step Approximately 4,400 same-sex couples have registered their relationships since August. The environmentally-conscious Green Party, a major power broker in German politics, led the struggle to pass the original pro-same-sex coupling legislation. "I'm enormously relieved," said Volker Beck, a Green legislator told reporters covering the law's passage. "This is a gigantic day for gays and lesbians in Germany." Stoiber has announced that he "regrets" the high court's decision. He promises, however, not seek to overturn the law if he should win September's election, even though he'd fight attempts, he said, to grant same-sex couples the same tax advantages that opposite-sex couples enjoy. A statement by Germany's LSVD association of gays and lesbians said: "The judges have told the conservative hard-liners once and for all that discrimination against lesbian and homosexual couples runs counter to the constitution.'' Berlin's openly gay Mayor Klaus Wowereit (Social Democrat) said: "It's a decisive step toward ensuring that Germany recognizes as normal something that has never been abnormal."

For More ... Related Stories Germany's Gay Partnership Law Takes Effect Berlin's New Mayor, Klaus Wowereit Comes Out Paris Elects Its First Openly Gay Mayor, a Socialist Related Sites Mayor Klaus Wowereit

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