12/16/2004: In 2003, Governor Gray Davis signed AB 205, which provides registered domestic partners with nearly all the rights, benefits, and responsibilities granted to spouses under state law, and takes effect after January 1st, 2005. Domestic Partner rights have come a long way since the first domestic partner law was signed in California in 1999, establishing a registry, giving registered domestic partners the right to visit each other in the hospital, and giving domestic partner benefits for certain state employees. Read more In addition to SB 205, the California Insurance Equality Act, Assembly Bill 2208, prohibits insurance providers from issuing policies or plans that treat registered domestic partners and married spouses differently. More from NCLR

The National Center for Lesbian Rights and Equality California have released a new handbook that explains who can register as domestic partners, how to register, how to dissolve a partnership, and what rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities will be provided to registered domestic partners in California after January 1, 2005. Next on the agenda for same-sex partners: AB 19.

Marriage Equality San Francisco blog | National Center for Lesbian Rights | Equality California | The Ins and Outs of California Domestic Partnerships from the ACLU | "Shadow Marriage | Marrying Apartheid: The Failure of Domestic Partnership Status