Scott Sayare and Maia de la Baume, Bliss for Many French Couples Is Now Less Marital Than Civil; Trading the walk down the aisle for a pact to be signed. New York Timees, Dec. 16, 2010 (title in the print).
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/world/europe/16france.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=france%20civil%20union&st=cse
Quote:
"As with traditional marriages, civil unions [in France] allow couples to file joint tax returns, exempt spouses from inheritance taxes, permit partners to share insurance policies, ease access to residency permits for foreigners and make partners responsible for each other’s debts. Concluding a civil union requires little more than a single appearance before a judicial official, and ending one is even easier.
"France is not the only European nation to allow civil unions between straight couples, but in the few countries that do — Luxembourg, Andorra, the Netherlands — they are not as popular. In the Netherlands in 2009, for example, there was just one civil union for every eight marriages.
My comment:
(a) It is hard for me (who have never been to Europe) to know the sex by a French first name. From the context, Maud Hugot is a woman.
(b) The male first name Cyril is derived from Greek kyrios lord.
(c) The German or Jewish last name Reich is German for rich.
(d) The French last name Moulin: from a French noun of the same spelling that means "mill" and signifies a miller or mill worker as ancestor.
(e) Compare
Gay Marriage l Banned banns; The distinction between civil partnerships and marriage might be crumbling. Economist, Nov. 11, 2010.
http://www.economist.com/node/17468419?story_id=17468419
(UK "refused to let Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle, a straight pair, register a civil partnership. * * * The rights conferred by marriage and civil partnership—over property, pensions, inheritance and so forth—are virtually identical")
My comment: Amy replied, "Gay marriage isn't like Santa Claus — it's not
something you 'believe in.' It simply is."
The last sentence means gay marriage exists (in real life).
【 在 choi 的大作中提到: 】
: Scott Sayare and Maia de la Baume, Bliss for Many French Couples Is Now Less Marital Than Civil; Trading the walk down the aisle for a pact to be signed. New York Timees, Dec. 16, 2010 (title in the print).
: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/world/europe/16france.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=france%20civil%20union&st
: (以下引言省略...)