Tampa Approves Domestic Partnership Registry

Tampa unmarried couples living together will soon have some of the same rights as married couples.

Tampa City Council approved the creation of a domestic partnership registry on Thursday, April 5, TBO.com reports. The council voted 7-0.

The registry covers gay and straight couples and it gives partners the right to make primary decisions and it gives them access to each other in hospitals. It also allows partners to make life-and-death decisions about the other, including burial details, and it allows partners to list each other as emergency contacts for police and rescue officials, according to TBO.com.

The registry will accept its first members in July.