the amendment to a vote and 48 voted against. Anti-discrimination law in the state of Washington enters into effect, after a ballot initiative to reverse it fails to collect enough signatures. 29 – The Supreme Court of the U.S. state of Arkansas confirms a lower state court judgment, ruling that it is unconstitutional to ban lesbians and gays from being foster parents. July 1 – Registered partnerships begin in the Czech Republic, the first nation of the former Communist bloc to sanction same-sex unions. 23 – Registered partnerships begin in Slovenia. 29 – the Declaration of Montreal on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Human Rights is presented at the opening ceremony of the 2006 World Outgames. September 10 – Canada's New Democratic Party becomes the world's first political party to adopt the Declaration of Montreal. 11 – Responding to pressure from the American Medical Student Association, the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and other groups, Touro University reinstates the medical school's Gay-Straight Alliance student group. 29 – The Anglican Journal reports that Terence Finlay, retired Archbishop of Toronto and Metropolitan of Ontario, has solemnised the marriage of a lesbian couple—and that Finlay's successor, Colin Johnson, has suspended his license to conduct weddings. October 16 – The government of Hong Kong accepts the decision of the appeals court to equalise the age of consent from 21 (for homosexual acts) to 16 (the legal age for heterosexual acts). 25 – The New Jersey Supreme Court rules in a 4–3 decision that the state constitution guarantees same-sex couples all the legal benefits of marriage, but does not explicitly legalize same-sex marriage in the state. 26 – 29 – The tenth-annual ILGA-Europe conference is held in Sofia, on the eve of Bulgaria's accession to the European Union in 2007. November 7 Eight states vote on amendments to ban same-sex marriage: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. All of the bans pass except for Arizona, which defeats the measure. Patricia Todd, the first openly gay member of the Alabama legislature, is elected. 8 – The UK Government publishes regulations outlawing discrimination in Goods and Services covering Northern Ireland which are due to enter into force on the January 1, which prove controversial with some religious groups 9 – Mexico City's unicameral Legislative Assembly passed and approved (43–17) a bill legalizing same-sex civil unions, under the name Ley de Sociedades de