Civil unions , civil partnership , domestic partnership , unregistered partnership\/unregistered co-habitation or registered partnerships offer some of the benefits of marriage and are available in : Andorra , Australia ( except Commonwealth law ) , Colombia , Croatia , Czech Republic , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Hungary ( unregisterd co-habitation since 1996 ; registered partnership from 2009 ) , Iceland , Israel , Luxembourg , New Zealand , Norway ( no longer separate civil union as of June 2008 same-sex marriages are under same law as male-female-marriages ) , Portugal , Slovenia , South Africa , Sweden , Switzerland , the United Kingdom and Uruguay . Civil unions , civil partnerships , domestic partnerships , registered partnerships , or unregistered partnership\/unregistered co-habitation legal status offer varying portions of the legal benefits of marriage and are available to same-sex couples in : Andorra , Australia , Colombia , Croatia , the Czech Republic , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Hungary , Ireland , Israel , Luxembourg , New Zealand , Slovenia , Switzerland , the United Kingdom and Uruguay .