"Norway Second Country in the World with a Partnership Law for Homosexuals"
Norway Times September 3, 1992

OSLO- The Norwegian government has proposed a partnership law for couples of 
the same sex, as briefly noted in a previous issue of Norway Times.  The law
proposal, which is not fully formulated, will not give homosexuals the 
oppurtunity to marry.
	The issue is controversial, but a majority in the Parliment is
expected to support the proposal.  If it passes in the Parliment, Norway will 
become the second country in the world, after Denmark, to sanction homosexual
partnerships by law.
	The Labor and Socialist Left parties are expected to back the law, 
while the stauchest opposition will come from the Christian Party.
       A key arguement for the partnership law is that the practical
consequences of homosexual partnerships are largely the same as for marriage.
These include matters such as national insurance benefits, pensions,
inheritance, and the mutual duty to support each other finacially.
        Regardless of the accepted attitude towards the institution of marriage
as a bearing element in society, it should be possible to regualte the
practical sides of a homosexual relationship without thereby putting marriage
and homosexual partnerships on an equal footing, says the Ministry of Children
and Family Affairs.
        The Danish law, which served as a model for the Norwegian proposal,
came in to effect in 1989.  By the end of 1991, about 1,000 homosexual
"marriages" were registered.  More then three-quarters of them involved men,
implying that women are less interested in law-regualted partnerships.

>>>>>>>Just supplying this FYI. I thought it was rather interesting myself.
hope you go something from it.
Take care have a wonderful week!

Carrie L. Johnson
cjohnson@acc.stolaf.edu