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Yet another Reason to Love New Zealand |
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Written by Tara Tainton
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Wednesday, 27 April 2005 00:00 |
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I just came across the best news I've heard in a long time. The country
of New Zealand has a special place in my heart for a variety of reasons, but
mainly because the land is just special. Every traveler feels it upon
stepping on the soil (outside of Auckland, that is!) and seeing the majestic
mountains rising all around, the clear blue sky and white clouds hovering above,
and the many sites only New Zealand can offer in such a small area. It's the
land of a million rainbows, making it the pot of gold at the end of them.
As an American, I was astonished myself when realizing a non-citizen partner
in a couple can actually register for permanent residency in New Zealand without
obtaining an actual marriage. In fact, marriage seems to be the exception in New
Zealand, not the norm and certainly not the "expectation" as it is here in the
States. There, couples are admired for the quality of their relationship for
their proven status as friends and lovers above all else, not by the length of
their relationship or how many ways they've managed to detach from the rest of
the world by legal status, flagrant wedding, or any majority status. New
Zealanders live to live, not to be something that's more accepted by
others. That societal pressure doesn't even exist there.
And now, the open-minded and evolved people of one of the best countries on
Earth has passed a law legalizing same-sex partnerships and designating the same
rights as marriage provides. That makes me just want to kneel down and thank the
universe for a sign of good things to come.
Check out the article for yourself and share in the celebration:
Pairs Register for New Zealand Civil Unions. Thanks go to
PlanetOut for sharing the news.
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Tara's Trysts 
