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Article: In N.J., getting an early start on civil unions.(New Jersey)
- Article from:
- The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA)
- Article date:
- February 20, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Philadelphia Inquirer. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Cynthia Burton
Feb. 20--At Collingswood's Borough Hall yesterday, in streamed a handful of citizens of historical significance -- gay and lesbian couples who applied for a civil-union license on the first day New Jersey's new law allowed them.
Mark Henderson, 42, and Charles Dowdy, 41, walked in with their two sons, Xavier, 6, and Sekai, 3. After a required waiting period of 72 hours, the men can be officially united with all the state's legal benefits of marriage, but not the title.
As they filed the civil-union paperwork with a clerk, the boys charged up behind their fathers, then giggled their way back to the other side of the ...