Calif. moves toward straight civil unions

SACRAMENTO, June 5 (UPI) -- The California Senate has passed a bill to extend the benefits of marriage and gay domestic partnerships to unmarried heterosexual couples.

Sen. Carole Migden, a San Francisco Democrat who sponsored the measure, also introduced the 1999 bill that created domestic partnerships for homosexuals, The Sacramento Bee reported.

"This bill proposes to expand domestic partnerships and benefits to all adult couples who desire to form domestic partnership relationships," Migden said.

Migden, one of the state's first openly lesbian legislators, said four out of 10 children in the United States now have parents who are unmarried but living together.

The bill passed the Senate 22-13 Monday and now goes to the state Assembly.

The measure is opposed by some employers' groups and conservative organizations. Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, said the bill would mean "marriage will be functionally abolished" in California.