Rainbow Labour MP Tim Barnett has set a November date for his Civil Union to long-term partner Ramon Maniapoto. The service for the couple, who have been together for six years, will take place at Waitetoko Marae at Lake Taupo, with two celebrants, 400 guests, a hangi, and a marae sleepover. The Department of Internal Affairs says more than 1,000 New Zealand couples will have Civil Unionised before Barnett's turn in November. "I wanted to get to a point where it felt ordinary, rather than extraordinary. It's about Ramon and I doing what we want to do for our reasons," Barnett told the Dominion Post. Today's Dominion Post story is on the link below. Ref: Dominion Post, GayNZ.com (m)