 The main distinction between registered partnership and marriage was that they were covered by separate laws, and that same-sex partnerships were a civil matter and could not be conducted through the church authority.LGBT groups complained about this inequality, advocating for a gender-neutral marriage, which would state that marriage can be conducted solely by the state, as is done in several other countries, rather than the current system in which churches have the authority to (legally) marry people, because this would further the separation of church and state.In 2004, Parliament established a committee to investigate the possibility of opening marriage to same-sex partners.