Civil partnerships
The number of UK civil partnership registrations dropped by 50% in 2007. Following an initial ‘boom’ in registrations in 2005, there were only 8,728 registrations last year compared to 16,106 in 2006.
This means that fewer than 0.1% of unmarried adults took out a homosexual civil partnership in 2007. If this trend continues, the numbers will fall well short of the predicted take-up of 62,000 registrations in the first five years.
The initial high target, which has since been revised, was based on the assumption that 5% of the UK population is homosexual. However, an official government survey published earlier this year found that only 1% are homosexual.
The last census revealed that only 0.2% of UK households were headed by a same-sex couple. Almost one quarter of homosexual civil partnership registrations took place in London last year, with Brighton the second most popular location, says a report from the Christian Institute.
In another development, Matt Lucas, star of the controversial comedy show Little Britain, wants to dissolve his homosexual civil partnership after only 18 months. It is the first dissolution involving a wealthy celebrity – Mr Lucas is reported to have a £15 million fortune.
