UK civil partnerships could be granted to straight couples, after senior minister Maria Miller acknowledged there should be a ‘review’ into the future of the unions.

Last night (16 May), the culture secretary and equalities minister said after lobbying by members of parliament over the status of civil partnerships, the government will ‘formally review’ their future.

Miller is opposed to giving civil partnerships to straight couples, which she has called ‘not a requirement’.

A local court in Milan has recognized a British civil partnership – the first time Italy has legally recognized a gay union from abroad.

Now the civil union between Cristian, a biologist, and Federico, an IT specialist, will be added to the Milan’s Registro delle Unioni Civili, a list of same-sex couples put in place by left-wing mayor Giuliano Pisapia.

The decision of the tribunal does not mean that Cristian and Federico’s civil partnership is now recognized by Italy.

Equal Marriage has been recognized for its efforts to legalize LGBT marriage in Scotland. The charity supported campaign has been listed for ‘Campaign of the Year’ and the ‘People’s Choice’ at the Scottish Charity Awards.

The campaign has been running since 2008 and aims to change the law to allow same sex couples to get married.

It also fights for faith and belief groups to conduct same-sex marriage and to end the requirement that transgender people must divorce before attaining Gender Recognition.

The Delaware State Senate on Tuesday (7 May) passed a marriage equality bill in a 12-9 vote clearing the way for same-sex marriages to begin in the state this summer.

The senate chamber erupted in cheers after the vote which took place after three hours of heated rhetoric on both sides.

Similar legislation had already been approved by the House of Representatives which allowed Governor Jack Markell, an outspoken supporter of gay marriage, to quickly sign the bill in to law.

The first legally binding unions between same-sex couples began in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday 1 May) in Colorado.

Couples were lining-up since 2pm yesterday outside the municipal Webb Building Denver where civil union ceremonies were scheduled to be performed from 12.01 to 2am, The Denver Channel reports.

Northern Ireland leaders in the Assembly have narrowly voted against same-sex marriage today (29 April).

Out of the 97 members of the legislative assembly, 42 voted in favor while 53 voted against.

An amendment adding language about protecting religious freedoms in the motion also failed, with 51 voting against and 46 in favor.

The vote followed the Irish Constitution Convention that voted for equal marriage with a 79% majority. 

Delaware’s House Administration Committee approved the gay marriage bill with a 4-1 vote sending it to a House floor vote.

The bill - HB75 – was debated today (17 April) for 90 minutes in which speakers were given two minutes to testify, reported On Top Magazine.

Richard Smith, president of the Delaware chapter of the NAACP, was among those testifying saying: ‘We believe marriage equality is a civil right’.

Ireland’s constitutional convention has voted overwhelmingly in favor of amending the country’s constitution to legalize gay marriage.

The 100 convention members casted their historic votes earlier today (14 April) in Dublin with 79 voting in favor of marriage equality, reported the Irish Times.

The former gold mining town of Bisbee, Arizona has become the first jurisdiction in the state to recognize same-sex relationships.

The city council voted on Tuesday to legalize same-sex civil unions despite the threat of legal action against it by the Arizona Attorney General.

Attorney General Tom Horne had written to the council prior to the vote to warn that it had ‘no authority to pass the ordinance’ and that if it was approved he would seek to have it blocked in court before it could come into effect.

US Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah says he believes civil unions - not same-sex marriages - are the answer to the marriage equality debate.

'I do believe this could be solved greatly by a civil-union law that would give gay people the same rights as married people,' Hatch said in an interview with radio station KVNU in Utah. 'I think we can solve this problem without undermining the very basis of marital law in our country.'

A Paraguayan gay couple demands the right to register their marriage in their country.

Thirty-year old Simon Cazal and 20-year-old Sergio López were married last year in Argentina, the first Latin American country to approve nationwide gay marriage.

However, Paraguay has no laws for same-sex marriage or civil unions.

As part of their first year anniversary, the couple asked yesterday (22 March) a judge in Asunción, Paraguay’s capital, to order civil registry officials to record their marriage.

Before Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis, he once supported the idea of civil unions for gay couples in Argentina.

In 2010, when Argentina was about to legalize marriage equality, Bergoglio argued the Roman Catholic Church should seek a compromise.

He described civil unions as the ‘lesser of two evils’ at a meeting behind closed doors with Argentina’s bishops, according to Sergio Rubin, his authorized biographer.

‘He wagered on a position of greater dialogue with society,’ Rubin said.