Sedona on Wednesday became the fourth Arizona city to recognize
gay couples with civil unions.
According
to KTVK, the Sedona City Council approved the ordinance with a
5-2 vote.
Mayor Rob Adams and several council members cited gay friends or
family members as reasons for supporting the measure.
The ordinance sends a message that love is love “regardless if
it's two people of the same sex or not,” Adams said.
Sedona's law is modeled after similar legislation already approved
in Tucson, Bisbee and Jerome.
Gay couples who enter a Sedona civil union will receive far fewer
rights than married couples receive. However, a 2008 voter-approved
constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union
blocks the city from going further. The ordinance grants civil
unioned couples the right to file contracts of inheritance rights,
power of attorney, and living wills.