The Civil Partnership Act 2004 allows homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexual married couples. | "We are welcoming gay marriages at our venue, as we would do not distinguish between our customers." | | Kim Smith |
These include next-of-kin rights, not having to pay 40 per cent inheritance tax, pension benefits, and recognition for immigration and tax purposes. Lesbians and gay men who want to hold a civil partnership ceremony need to go to their local registry office (follow the links on the right for details) to give formal notice of their intention to register their partnership. They can hold the ceremony 15 days after giving this notice. On the day itself, couples will form their civil partnership by signing a document in the presence of a registrar and two witnesses. Civil partnership ceremonies can take place in registry offices or in venues licensed to hold civil weddings. The law does not allow for any religious element to the ceremony. Gay-friendly venues Numerous venues and services in Somerset are already promoting themselves as gay friendly.
 | | Cllr Alan Gloak is tying the knot with his partner |
"We are welcoming gay marriages at our venue, as we would do not distinguish between our customers," says Kim Smith from the Shrubbery Hotel in Ilminster. But not everyone is so welcoming. Nicola Hill, who has set up a website listing venues for partnership ceremonies, says that, when she started planning her own ceremony, she found that some people either did not reply to her e-mails or sent back hostile replies. "I had a photographer telling me it was an abomination. Even if it made commercial sense, he certainly was not interested." Out of the 40 venues Nicola contacted in Somerset, only two said they did not want to host gay weddings. Tying the knot One of the first gay men to form a civil partnership is the Chairman of Somerset County Council. Cllr Alan Gloak is celebrating the change in the law by tying the knot with his partner of 43 years:
The first civil partnership ceremony in Bath is taking place at 8am on Wednesday 21 December 2005, when Darryl Bullock and his partner, Mark Godfrey, make their vows:
| 
