When civil unions first bloomed
Before 2013 only a man and a woman were able to marry under New Zealand law. The Civil Union Act 2004 made it possible for couples − heterosexual or homosexual – to consent to a civil union, giving them almost the same rights as married couples. Ruby Maca
Among the first couples to enter into a civil union were Wellington’s John Jolliff and Des Smith, who on April 26, 2004, made their way to the Internal Affairs office in Wellington, eager to be the first to have their 19-year relationship recognised legally.
‘‘We went down as soon as they opened. Our civil union document is the very first one, it says number one,’’ Smith said.
Their registration and subsequent ceremony a few days later made national news.
‘‘We became the poster boys. I don’t know why they picked on us but at our age, we thought it was quite funny.’’
In that first year, a total of 249 civil unions were registered to New Zealand residents – 203 of which were by same-sex couples.
The right to enter into a civil union was a hard-fought one with a number of anti-gay protests staged around the country in the lead-up to the vote.
The Wellington ‘Enough Is Enough’ march through the central city in August 2004, organised by Destiny Church, involved thousands of church members and supporters. The 5000-strong crowd, clad in black, marched down Lambton Quay, continually chanting ‘‘enough is enough’’.
Also present on this march were members of the Christian Heritage Party and white supremacist group National Front.
At the time, Richard Lewis, the leader of the church’s political party, Destiny NZ, maintained the bill would ‘‘undermine family values’’.
Despite the furore, the Civil Union Bill, which was promoted by Labour MPs David Benson- and Lianne Dalziel, passed its third and final reading by 65 votes to 55.
It was treated as a conscience issue by the majority of parties.
Jolliff and Smith were at Parliament that day, after playing a prominent role in the battle for civil unions.
Theirs was the first civil union ceremony in Wellington, held just a few days after the law came into effect. The pair entered the Wellington Town Hall through an arch of rainbow flags held by their friends.
‘‘We just took it as it came and had a good time.’’
In the succeeding eight years after the Civil Union Act came into effect, 2455 New Zealand couples entered into a civil union, with almost 2000 by those in same-sex relationships.
While the Act was, at the time, described as very similar to the Marriage Act 1955, with references to ‘‘marriage’’ replaced by ‘‘civil union’’, it did not permit nonmarried couples to adopt children, although people in non-marital relationships could adopt as individuals.
‘‘What we thought was important was that any will can be contested but if you have documents proving your relationship then that gives you an edge, it means you won’t be subject to someone contesting your estate. Your partner will be recognised.’’
Ten years on from their civil union, Jolliff and Smith chose to get married after same-sex marriage was legalised in 2013 by the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act.
However, Smith said the pair decided not to dissolve their existing civil union partnership.
‘‘We’ve got both, we’re a bit lucky. So we just paid a bit extra and got married up at [Wellington eco-sanctuary] Zealandia.
‘‘It was so much fun, we almost wanted to get divorced solely so we could get married again and have another party.’’
While the passing of the Civil Union Act was momentous at the time, bolstering the rights of samesex couples across the country, the introduction of same-sex marriage in 2013 appears to have eclipsed it.
According to the most recent Statistics New Zealand figures, just 60 civil unions were registered in 2016 compared to 23,136 marriages, 2118 of which were entered into by same-sex couples.