 Each member of the couple is referred to in a gender-neutral manner as a "sambo" as shorthand for persons who live together ("bor tillsammans").From 1988 to 2003, there were two different laws governing cohabitating couples' rights, one for male-female couples and one for same-sex couples.These separate laws were united into a single law in the "Sambolagen" ("Cohabitees Act"), which took effect in July 2003.