By halfway through this year nearly 60, 000 Britons had entered a same-sex union, giving them legal rights virtually identical to those of married couples.

ECONOMIST: Civil partnerships

Since his election he's often expressed his dismay over growing secularism in Europe, with many countries passing or planning to legalize same-sex marriage or civil union agreements.

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Three years later, roughly the same proportion of civil-union couples and married couples had split but just two of the 13 same-sex couples had legally terminated their civil union.

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