On September 14, 2001, Brighton and Hove City Council proudly announced it was going to be the second city (after London) to set up

a Partnership Register for lesbian, gay and unmarried couples who wished to register their partnerships in the city in which they lived.

Nothing more was heard until a public notice appeared in The Argus at the beginning of November, 2001.

This notice asked for opinions on what form the registering of partnerships should take, where the register would be held and if the register should be open to the public or private to the couples concerned. This had to be done by the end of November, 2001.

In January 2002, after still no further information from the council and any more articles in The Argus, I emailed Liberal Democrat group leader Paul Elgood.

His reply was that the council was waiting for the outcome of the formal notice in The Argus and if the outcome was positive, it would proceed with the setting up of the register.

Recently in the lesbian and gay paper The Pink, Liverpool council announced it was about to set up a Partnership Register, which would be open to anyone around the country who wished to register their partnership - not just those living in or near Liverpool.

Considering the debates and discussions that Brighton and Hove City Council has had on its register, is it not about time that the people were given some more information?

It may not seem important to most people but to lesbian, gay and unmarried couples, it is a step in the right direction to what most

married people in a happy and loving relationship take for granted.

-Kevin Hunt, Brighton